The Life Of Bella McCarthy
by SoRobsessed
Summary: Bella has a great life, she has her family and best friend by her side; the one person she hated the most was her best friends brother; Edward, he was arrogant and superficial; using women as if they were pawns in a game; after a dream she comes to realise she feels differently about Edward but will he show her the real him or hide behind his big ego?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own everything but their names.**

Chapter One

"No I REFUSE to wear that Alice, I wouldn't even wear that ONCE let alone keep it!" as per usual here I was, sitting in my best friend's bedroom screaming at her for buying me such revolting clothes.

"But BELLA!" whining as expected, as I heard her tone I knew I would lose this battle, she had a knack for winning arguments;

"It would suit you so much! Think of the prospects from wearing this top, you could find the man of your dreams and drive into the sunset, WEARING THIS TOP! Think about it; don't ruin your chances because you're scared to live!" Was she being serious? Why did I have to have a friend who was such a bloody drama queen!

Though by now I should've been used to this and in the end, she always won, but this time I'm putting my foot down, I didn't want all of this stuff, it was far too much; even more me.

"Alice I swear to god, that top will not go near my body, it's too revealing and I HATE it when the guys stare at me like I'm a piece of meat, I'll wear the jeans and heels but STOP with the top, the answer will always be NO!" Pouting like usual she threw the top into the bag it came from and sighed loudly

"JUST ONCE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO ME! ONCE WILL NOT KILL YOU YA KNOW?"

"But that's why you love me Ali-cat" winking at her slowly she knew I won this time, smiling and laughing she handed me the bags

"Fine you win, but I still say that top would look so hot on you" after a small victory dance we heard the door slam downstairs and a scream came up the stairs.

"ALICE GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW" laughing silently I look over to a guilty looking Alice; she was always blamed for something fashion related, so I knew by his tone that this couldn't be good.

"What did you do now? Did you manage to get him to look normal or something?" she rolled her eyes at my comment

"Ha Ha, you know what, he's just scared of change... like another certain _someone_ I know and love" I don't get why she wanted me to change some of the things I wore, I thought I looked fine, my skinny jeans and t-shirt looked good, I didn't care what people thought but I knew she did, which is why she slowly made her way down the stairs.

I followed silently knowing it would be hilarious to watch her stupid moronic brother explode with frustration. Yes her brother; one word people - ASSHOLE! He was completely obsessed with his image and who he was seen with, all his friends were superficial air heads who cared about nothing more than drinking, football and sex. I'm surprised one of them hasn't been caught pregnant yet.

The elusive 'Edward Cullen' had no manners, he only cared about getting women into bed or even in his car, _like he cared about where or when_. I am literally the only girl who has never been with him, mainly because of my best friend being his sister, but his ego makes him very unattractive to me.

"WHAT NOW _EDDIE, _You know I'm busy with Bella, You Pms'ing or some shit?" How I loved her little potty mouth, you'd think a girl of 5ft 3 would be a lovely innocent creature, but no, she's just as foul-mouthed as me; which may not be a good thing in the long run.

"FIRSTLY DON'T CALL ME EDDIE! Secondly can you please tell me why my shirts been BEDAZZLED? This was a very EXPENSIVE SHIRT ALICE!" skipping towards him, all she started humming, looking at the mess she made of his shirt, she shrugged casually and smiled evilly towards him

"It looks pretty bro, you really suit sparkles" she smiled quickly and ran away laughing, grabbing my hand in the process and taking me upstairs.

For the next HOUR YES I REPEAT NEXT HOUR - _drama queen_ - we heard him screaming about how unfair his life was and how he wished he was an only child. MEN! They're more emotional than women.

"Alice, sweetie, you do know he will get you back for this?" she just shrugged, not thinking about what would happen next; I knew he was good at getting revenge on people when he had the chance

"Oh will he? He knows not to mess with me; I know a lot of secrets that mother and father _don't_ so he wouldn't dare." Damn this girl was good; now I felt nervous that she knew so much about me, let's hope I don't do anything to ruin my life.

"Okay whatever you say, I have to go feed my dad, you know how he gets if he isn't fed and watered" she burst out laughing and remembered the last time I left him to fend for himself

"Make sure there's no food that requires an oven left lying around next time then!" For a man who can run the town, you'd think he'd be able to cook at least one thing, but no, all he can do is burn water.

"Don't worry Al, I have the fridge padlocked" giving her my signature wink I gave her a big hug and went downstairs. Giving a big sigh I realized he must be somewhere else around the house, I really wasn't in the mood for one of our petty arguments.

"Wait right there McCarthy" Rolling my eyes I turned around to a SHIRTLESS Edward. Now that was something that shocked me, his body was made by the gods I'm telling you! His six pack was carved into his torso with the v'shape on his hips that just stood out, I nearly started drooling until I shook my head violently and realized he was Satan's child.

"What do you want _Prickward_?" he cocked his head to the side and smirked his signature grin

"You know I love it when you talk dirty McCarthy" what a douche, his stupid comments made me cringe; this guy just doesn't know when to shut up.

"Look I have to go, it was... Hell I can't even lie about it being nice. GOODBYE EDWARD!" he yelled stop as I tried to leave, what did he want now;

"Wait, I just wanted to say, that if your ever here and my sister isn't. Well I'm too nice to let you be on your own, so I can keep you company if you like?" he waggled his eyebrows, showing me he was flirting; douchebag...

"Edward I'm not one of your little sluts on speed dial, find a girl who's willing to open her legs for you, because I sure as hell won't." After saying my piece I walked out and drove home with the Chase & Status blaring out of the car speakers; enjoying the bit of dubstep for a few minutes.

Opening the door was definitely an experience in my house; you never knew what my dad would do next. I strolled in to find my dad dancing to E-Type – True Believer – _yes it was one of those moments_.

Slowly I made it to the open door and pressed record on my phone, _YouTube will have found a new star I think_, he spun round with such force he knocked the lamp over then looked up to find me standing laughing my head off.

"Say hi to the folks at home dad" I smirked as his face turned white, then suddenly turning red with embarrassment.

"GET THAT CAMERA OFF NOW" he rushed over and tried wrestling it out of me, but he taught me too well, I jump out of his way and stopped the video

"This is amazing stuff dad, you should do it more often" he just shook his head and walked out towards the kitchen.

"Maybe I should lock doors when I'm rocking out" I snorted loudly; that was his 'rocking out'? God help me.

"Rocking out? You were listening to _Clubland classics_; you need to listen to a bit of ACDC to rock out dad, maybe even Iron Maiden... But anyway, what do you want for dinner?" Rummaging through the fridge I found a steak left untouched and a few packets of salad

"Salad and steak will have to do, it's the only thing in this fridge" smiling at me he sat down and took the paper, reading the sports section as I slapped the raw meat into a heated pan.

Dinner at my house was usually quiet time for us; it was a comfortable silence so it seemed like a normal day, we weren't really talkers, unless there were guests; then we had to be 'perfect' hosts.

"How's Alice today?" everyday he asked the same thing, how was Alice, what was she up to, I think he secretly loved Alice; she was the only person he knew that I could trust with my life.

"She's fine, she kind of tortured her brother today" I remembered the look on Edwards face and smiled, as my dad chuckled, imaging what she done to get him riled up.

"What did she do this time?" Smirking back at him, I placed the salad into a bowl, trying to mix everything together;

"Bedazzled his favourite shirt, which apparently is so expensive and to die for this season" he rolled his eyes, he always thought of Edward being too girly for his own good... I've taught him well.

"Well let's hope this means he'll be with less girls with that shirt" seriously, again?

"Don't tell me you caught him AGAIN, god does that guy not have any dignity" only Edward Cullen could get away with shagging girls in a lane somewhere. It sickened me, especially knowing all those girls fawn over him like he's the sexiest man on earth.

"Yes, again, he doesn't grab the concept of being discreet" I snorted, knowing exactly what he meant; I don't think I've ever seen Edward alone in public... ever; he either had a girl by his side, or on top of him, maybe even a few friends standing round, laughing at every crap joke he says.

"Maybe he doesn't _grab_ the concept because he's too busy 'grabbing' something else" dad narrowed his eyes at my small joke, trying hard not to smile.

"Watch your mouth young lady, I don't want you having a foul mouth like your old man" I grinned widely and laughed; trying to scold me for being rude definitely wasn't something I was used to; he could never really punish me, he was too laid back;

"Well I did learn from the best" I smiled and we both laughed, let's just hope tomorrow is filled with another day of not seeing the most annoying man of the century.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

As I opened my eyes, the glare of the sun coming from the window blinded me; this was one of the rare days in Forks where there was actually some sun, hopefully this time I'll tan, even if it's just a light shade of brown; I never seemed to tan... it's like the sun hates me or something.

I jumped in the shower and get ready for school, maybe it's time to get the bright colours out, something along the lines of my ripped denim shorts, with a red tank top and my gladiator shoes, perfect!

I skipped down the stairs, feeling energetic from the sun shining in; making me feel like today would be a good day; I grabbed a granola bar and jumped into my brand new Shelby GT 500, which I might add is the only one in the ENTIRE COUNTRY thanks to my father, that lovely man!

He even got it in my two favourite colours, it was a bright shade of blue with two black strips starting on the bonnet and making its way down to the back of the car; B-e-a-utiful! That's all I can say about the car of my dreams.

School was always about who can cause the biggest scene or drama of the week, I never rose to the occasion but I loved watching all the others squirm at the thought of losing.

Getting to school was quick and easy, everyone was outside enjoying the weather, and Alice was standing by her brother and his friends, flirting pretty well with one of his friends Jasper Hale.

Jasper and his twin sister were the second most popular people in the school; the twins were complete opposites, while Jasper was a sweet, considerate piece of man candy for all the girls to fawn over.

Rosalie Hale was a piece of bitch pie, she enjoyed nothing better than to torture everyone around her, it was amusing to watch when it was the other popular's she ridiculed, especially Tanya Denali.

Tanya was the sluttiest piece of shit I'd ever seen! She was always wearing clothes 3 times smaller than it should be and her bleached straw like hair made her face look even more orange than usual. Granted, she was ALWAYS orange. But let's not get off the subject, there beside her was none other than her little minions Lauren & Jessica, they called themselves the sexy squad, they were that stupid; they couldn't think of anything better than that?

"EDDIE! Let's hang out at lunch m'kay?" there's the screeching voice I was waiting for; it sounded worse than cats scratching their sharp nails on a chalkboard violently!

Edward just leaned casually over his car, thinking he was god's gift to women, which he probably would be if he had a personality transplant! He smirked towards his friends letting them think he was a player – god help his future wife;

"Maybe later Tanya, Laurens already offered me an alternative proposition" winking at Lauren she gave this smug smile to prove she had just beaten her 'leader' to the punch. Why would anyone be smug about being easier? It's ludicrous!

"But Eddie, you know I'm like better than her in every way" pressing her body on top of him was something I tried to avoid looking at, but for some reason he wasn't letting her today, he gently moved her away and walked off with the other _followers_ that they called our football team, which would suck if they didn't have Edward, Jasper & my so called brother Emmett. Who was going out with the queen bitch! Rosalie Hale.

"MCARTHY JUNIOR GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" I cringed at his voice booming over the parking lot; I really hated Emmett sometimes; he thought my little nickname would bring me into his world. He seems to forget that I don't want to be near his 'clique'.

Slowly walking over, trying to ignore the stares of the guys and the glares of the sluts, I look up and sigh,

"What Emmett?" he rolled his eyes and chuckled at my lack of excitement;

"I wanted to see my little sis, feel like I haven't seen you in a while" how sweet, he was always a big softy; I loved how he still cared about me even though we don't hang out as much anymore, I miss it a lot!

"Thanks Em, but the bells about to go, if your home later we can hang out... without your 'posse?'" Rosalie sighed loudly while I just smirked, I loved annoying her, but I would never mess with her, I knew she took her 'bitch' title seriously; I wasn't going to cause unnecessary damage to my life.

He pulled me in for a hug then gave his cheesy grin

"Okay, sure after practice ill come see you, it really has been too long junior" and with that he walked off with his friends, but not before I noticed Edward giving me the once over, I felt instantly violated yet smug about the fact he felt the need to check me out. I did have a killer body, but I wasn't one to gloat; especially to any of these idiots I call fellow students.

"So enjoying the view" Alice came over and nodded over to her brother; she thought I was checking him out? No chance;

"Not likely, he's a womanizing, moronic imbecile!" she tilted her head to the side as she folded her arms tightly across her chest;

"I know you like him, just admit it" I stopped mid step and glared at her, what the hell? Why the fuck would she think that?

"Not everyone falls for your brothers stupid looks, maybe I care more about personality than looks, thanks for subtly calling me superficial" I stropped off not in the mood for her accusations that were happening more frequently.

"Bella WAIT! I'm sorry you know I'm only messing" she said panting, obviously she needs to exercise a bit more; she was seriously unfit, especially when running.

"You used to always joke about it Alice, but I know you're being serious now, and it's not funny" her face softened, noticing how angry I was; who wouldn't be?

"I know, but I wish you two did hook up, it would mean he would be with just you and no one else, I hate him wasting his time with those sluts" I rolled my eyes; her love wasted on him, he didn't deserve her at all.

"You do know he looks happy and doesn't seem to mind using them? It's like you idolise your brother sweetie, he's just a piece of shit usually" she smirked with amusement, knowing I was right – _yet again_

"I have faith in him doing the right thing, and it's obvious he wants your sexy ass" both of laughed at that statement, it was definitely true, he did want me, but he knew he couldn't have me, that's probably why he was attracted to me, I was the only one who didn't fall for his stupid chat up lines

School took forever to end; classes were too slow and the teachers knew how to annoy us, they wanted us to stay out of this amazing weather for the fun of it; Assholes.

Lunch time finally arrived and I grabbed an apple and ran outside to find a good spot before they were all taken; no one sat in the cafeteria unless they burned easily; most people enjoyed the sun and sat wherever they could.

"YO JUNIOR - OVER HERE!" turning round I noticed my brother and his football buddies throwing the ball around, but he was calling me over to sit with them. Something I hated doing, all they did was talk about the next girl they wanted to shag, or who had the biggest muscles, not something you want to hear while you're trying to digest food!

I made my way over to find Alice already there, sitting very close to Jasper, he didn't seem to mind, and I'm pretty sure he liked her, even though we were both younger than him. He looked over at me, smiled and then started talking to Edward again like nothing happened.

I knew Jasper sort of liked me, he already told me that he did, but I would NEVER go there, the main reason was because of my best friend being in love with him. I couldn't break her little heart.

I sat beside Alice and started munching my apple; she nudged me and smiled as she soaked up the rays hitting her skin;

"So Bella how was classes, any gossip to share?" I shrugged, not really bothered, it was the same thing every day, unless the teachers went easy on us.

"Boring as per usual, but at least the suns out, want to come to mine after school and sunbathe?" her face lit up as I asked, it looked as if the clogs in her brain were turning with ideas popping in and out; I raised my eyebrow and waited for her to tell me this amazing scheme.

"Let's go to mine, the guys are coming round to play basketball, it means we can perve on them all day long" I rolled my eyes, of course she would think of that; seeing Jasper shirtless was her idea of heaven;

"We all know there's only one guy you would look at, and there's no eye candy for me, remember?" Edward must've been ease-dropping into our conversation; he coughed loudly, making us both turn to glare at him;

"I think I'm pretty good eye candy, don't ya think?" he winked cheekily at me and I smirked, he really thought he was irresistible didn't he?

"Yeah for prostitutes and sluts who want to suck you off, I'm neither of them so I wouldn't classify you as 'eye candy' " Jasper burst out laughing and once he did Alice joined in, finally getting the joke.

"Your one of a kind there Bella" Jasper winked at me, which caused me to laugh even more, the expression on Edwards face was priceless; but then noticed Alice looking slightly sad that Jasper wasn't talking to her,

"Well I've learnt everything I know from the little pixie beside me" I threw my arm over her shoulder and gave her a small hug; she mouthed 'Thank You' to me and smiled.

"Well you've got balls Bells" I smiled at the nickname and just shrugged casually;

"If I had balls Jasper, I'd be worried" he shook his head lightly, looking amused by my comment;

"Wouldn't we all" he winked as he jumped up to run and play football with the others who were calling for him to go over.

"What's with the flirting with Jasper, I thought there was no eye candy around" I tutted at Edward, why was he being so huffy, he had plenty of girls lying around ready for him to pounce.

"Jealously is a horrible look on a guy Edward, maybe you should go over to one of your bitches, so you feel wanted, because we sure as hell are getting sick of your voice over here" I smiled innocently while he walked off looking quite angry.

"Do you like Jasper?" I turned to Alice in surprise; why would she ask me that? I'd never do anything like that to her; she was my best friend; that actually _meant_ something to me!

"Alice, you know I don't, and even if I did, I wouldn't go near him, you get first dibs" she smiled slowly, accepting my answer; was she that insecure?

"Thanks, you really are a good friend" I put my arm around her shoulder, bringing her into a hug as she giggled;

"Well duh! I'm amazing, you're only noticing that now?" as we laughed the bell rang loudly making us all groan with frustration at the fact that we would be stuck in stuffy classrooms for the rest of the afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The rest of the week ended with no drama and no fighting. Just the way I like it, it was finally the weekend and the sun was still out, it must be a record by now. Never have I seen the sun out for this long, EVER! Spending most of the time with Alice shopping, I realised I could have the weekend to myself.

Reading was one of my favourite things to do, so sitting outside under a big tree with my earphones in and a copy of one of my most loved books in the world _Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick_ sounded like a great day, right? Wrong, relaxing and enjoying the day I had all to myself, my phone started to ring, looking down to see who was calling me _as you do,_ I noticed it was Emmett

"_Hey Idiot, what's up?" _he sighed at my insult, ignoring the fact I was joking; 

"_We're at the beach, come down and enjoy the sun with us!" _I rolled my eyes, that didn't sound like something I'd enjoy at all.

"_I'd love to but I'd rather read and soak up the rays while they last, but thanks' for asking" _he started whiningdown the phone, not accepting that as my final answer

"_Bella, don't be a party pooper. Get down here and have fun for once, you can even bring Alice if you want, though make sure she isn't clinging to jasper, Rosalie says he's interested in someone else" _I rolled my eyes, boys minds can change every two seconds so it's obvious if Alice left Jasper alone for a while that he would become interested.

"_Fine we'll be there in an hour okay?" _I could hear him yelling to Rosalie that we were coming, hearing a small whatever; she was such a bitch; how did he like her?

"_You're the best sis, see you soon" _well obviously I was the best, I was stuck going to the beach with his idiot friends;

"_Yeah Yeah, Bye" _I hung up and ran up stairs to get changed into my black and white striped bikini with a short denim skirt to match my new flip flops. As I parked up at Alice's house I texted her:

**I'm here bitch! **

**Get Ur ass down here now (: xo.**

I checked my makeup and fixed my hair, I knew she would take ages to get ready; I should've rang her after Emmett called, but I had a stupid blonde moment.

Finally after what seemed like hours, she skipped out of the house and hopped into the car, she sat there looking at me as if she had won the lottery; she must've been happy to be invited; she had a good chance of flirting with Jasper today, I hoped she didn't over do it.

"You took long enough didn't you?" she raised an eyebrow and grinned, knowing full well she took ages to get ready;

"Perfection takes time darlin' you should know me by now" I laughed I really should've texted her first;

"You'd think I'd learn by now, but Emmett also warned me that you shouldn't be so clingy to Jasper today, make sure you keep your distance and flirt with other guys, that'll get his attention for sure" she basically looked like I was insulting her

"But Bella, he'll not notice me unless he sees me" I shook my head, disagreeing with her statement, sometimes being distant means a lot more.

"It would be he'd only notice you in a bad way chick, just give him space and he'll start to realise you're not around, trust me!"

The beach was covered in people dancing and drinking, I didn't even know where to start looking for my airhead of a brother,

"Maybe we should just call him Bell's? It would be handier" she was definitely right about that but I'd rather keep the interacting to a minimum so wasting time would be an advantage

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" we both laughed and picked a spot to start looking, after 20 minutes of looking we gave up

"Fine, ill ring him, this is ridiculous" After the second ring he picked up

"_Junior, where are ya?" _where does he think? Idiot; I looked around me trying to see if I could find his group of friends; but no luck;

"_We're here, we just can't find you?" _I could hear the music blaring from his phone and from the beach, which made it irritating;

"_Oh, look for my jeep in the car park and then walk straight down from there onto the beach; you'll see us in no time" _

"_Right, okay, you better be there"_ he chuckled down the phone, I guess I'm a comedian today;

"_Course we are, and I know a certain guy who can't wait to see you" _I felt my insides twist; he always liked to annoy me about Edward; I just hope it wasn't him.

"_Oh really and who would that be?" _

"_You'll just have to get here and find out kid! See you soon"_ then the line went dead I looked to Alice angrily

"He hung up on me Al!" she shook her head with impatience, she grabbed my hand and started storming off towards Emmett's jeep;

"Okay, let's just find them already!"

When we found the car I sighed with relief; at least he'd be around here somewhere; all of a sudden I could hear his voice yelling over the music;

"JUNIOR!" I turned to find Emmett running over with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face

"You finally got here, we were going to hire a search party to find you guys" typical, he was so dramatic sometimes;

"Whatever, were here aren't we? Now can I sit and relax while you all annoy each other?" he laughed, and put his arm around me and Alice protectively;

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say sis" he walked us down the beach to where his friends were drinking and laughing; were they always this happy? It was impossible, unless they were on something? _It wouldn't surprise me_.

I found a great spot and started lying and enjoying the sun next to Alice, ignoring everyone around me when all of a sudden a dark figure blocked the light from burning my skin

"What the hell!" I open my eyes to find Edward laughing at my glares; he had to bloody take up all the sun; though I couldn't complain too much; sadly I was enjoying the view of Edward wearing a pair of bright blue and white board shorts; I started yelling at myself for even looking.

"Sorry am I blocking the sun from burning your hot skin?" I rolled my eyes dramatically and sighed, as I stopped looking him completely and put my sunglasses on, stopping his from seeing my eyes;

"I'm just going to ignore you _Ass-ward_" he smirked as he eyes travelled down my body, stopping every few seconds to look at every part of me; what a pig.

"How original, is this seat taken" I gave him a dirty look, knowing it wouldn't stop him.

"If I said yes would it make a difference?" he smiled smugly, looking like he won the argument;

"Nope" he sat down beside me and started checking me out again from head to toe, this time I wasn't going to let him get away with it that _easily _

"Enjoying the view? Cos' this is as close as your getting" he look offended as he placed his hands behind him, keeping him from falling backwards.

"Don't be so cold Bella, if it's on show, I don't want to be rude and not look, what kind of guy do you take me for." I had so many insults that came with that comment; but I chose to rise above it and be the bigger person;

"I won't even answer that" I stuck my earphones in and he winked at me and jumped up to join the football game that a few yards away;

"You know he has the hots for you right?" I took my ear buds out of my ears; wondering who the hell was interrupting my bubble; my eyes went wide as I found out it was Rosalie hale (The queen BITCH!) talking to me.

"No he has the hot's for sex, he's looking for a new woman to use and abuse, which won't be me" her laugh was actually quite pretty, but full of sarcasm near the end

"If you think that then you're stupid, yeah he's a man whore, but if it's offered to him on a plate, why would he refuse?" sadly I knew she had a point, maybe she was more clever than I thought;

"True, but I still don't like him" she raised her eyebrows, not looking surprised by my answer;

"You sure about that, don't tell me you don't think he's good looking?" sighing heavily I closed my eyes and lay back down; I wasn't in the mood for this conversation.

"He may be hot, but his big head and ego sort of ruins it don't ya think?" she smirked slowly, liking my reply; she seemed pleased with it in a way;

"I like you junior, you'd fit in well with us, you should hang out more, I need more friends like you" Now that surprised me, Rosalie hale did not like anyone but herself and Emmett, maybe even her brother if he was lucky; so hearing that definitely was a compliment.

"Thanks Rosalie, I didn't think you admitted to shit like that" she laughed loudly, causing a few people to turn to us in surprise; I'm guessing she didn't laugh much when she was hanging out with them;

"I do when I really mean it, and you can call me Rose. I'm in serious need of a shopping trip, wanna join me tomorrow?" raising my eye brows I stared in shock, did she just invite me to go shopping? Holy shit

"Yeah I guess" she smiled with enthusiasm, looking younger and more youthful than before;

"Great! I'm finally going to get to know Emmett's little sister, plus having you as a friend is a bonus too" she got up slowly and walked over to Emmett who was having yet another drink.

The rest of the time that past was boring; all the guys were drunk and playing beach football while the girls tried to look as sexy as possible to grab Edward's attention.

Alice on the other hand ignored my advice and clung to Jasper that looked as if he was trying not to be mean, he really was a great guy, too bad Alice is self-sabotaging herself, and she will definitely be getting words from me.

The shopping trip the next day however was interesting as well, we walked around the shops trying different clothes on, going to music shops and finding out we had more in common than we originally thought, and she actually seemed like a really nice person even if she threatened to kill me if I told anyone otherwise. Which is sort of ironic isn't it?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_It was dark and cold, causing shivers to run down my spine, I was walking through a forest, not knowing where I was going, or who I was meeting; it was strange, the air was thick and I felt scared; what was I doing here at this time of the night? _

_As I walked I came across a beautiful ray of light coming from a small space in between a tunnel of trees, I made my way towards the light, feeling drawn to moving closer until I opened my eyes to something even more magical than I could've ever imagined._

_A meadow filled with wild flowers it was absolutely enchanting; the trees were covered in bright green leaves and the grass growing tall and confident, it was an amazing sight to behold. _

_I slowly walked towards the middle of the meadow to find a silhouette staring at me with a glass of champagne and a romantic picnic laid out across the ground of where he stood, he stood there smiling at me, like I was the only girl in the world. _

_The feelings I felt for him were strange, I never knew I could feel like this, like he was the only one around who could make me feel like I could love and be free, all at the same time; the power coming from him; making me want to float towards him; _

_He stretched out his hand, willing me to take it, but as I did so I looked down to find myself wearing a yellow sundress, with my hair down with its natural wave and flowers gently placed in a few strands of my hair; I felt beautiful for the first time in a very long time; we sat, and looked up to the sky, looking at the clouds and the different shapes they appeared to be. _

_The strange man cupped my face and started kissing me gently; it felt like pure bliss, the thought of leaving was heartbreaking, never seeing this man again, even if it was for a short time I wanted to cherish the moments I had left, knowing it would probably be the only time I would ever truly be with him. _

"_Bella, I've loved you for so long, I know you've never loved me, but I will try to make you feel the same as I for as long as I live" I looked at him, feeling so confused, why would I never love him? He's perfect beyond belief._

_It came to a sudden halt as it dawned on me why I would 'think' that I'd never love him, his face looked familiar and his voice confirmed who he was after just muttering those few words. _

_I sat up and looked deep into his emerald green eyes, looking for some kind of connection I felt a few mere seconds ago, stuttering the words as if I was disgusted in myself I finally say his name... "E-Edward?" _

Suddenly I woke up, gasping for air, feeling dazed as I tried to get rid of the dizzy feeling that was taking over my body, how could I dream of HIM being my true love, the man I loved and cherished so deeply?

My mind must be slowly losing its will to live, the thought of him kissing me made my skin crawl in every way imaginable! This was impossible, it was a horrible nightmare that I won't be having again. EVER! I will just forget about that stupid dream and think of something else... anything!

I ran to the bathroom and jumped in the shower, trying to think about something other than Edward, but I couldn't, it was stuck in my head; not wanting to escape as it screamed into my mind YOU LOVE HIM – no way, I could never love him, it was a mistake; maybe he just looked similar to the guy I'd end up loving? But that would suck as well, knowing there could be someone just like him, sitting there waiting for me to be with him; it was frightening.

"Oh shit!" as I quickly ran out of the shower, drying myself as I threw my clothes on, I realised that I totally forgot I was picking Alice up this morning, I rushed down the stairs and grabbed a granola bar and ran to my car as I sped off to the Cullen residence.

As I drove into their drive way I found Emmett & Rosalie standing by his car, looking pissed off; what were they doing here? I groaned inwardly as I jumped from the car, pretending that I was just tired;

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" the both looked up at me with surprise; I guess they didn't know I was getting Alice; Rosalie smiled at me happily, her whole mood changing;

"We're waiting for Edward; I swear he is so slow when it comes to getting ready"

'Edward' even his name made butterflies appear in my stomach, what was happening to me? Just yesterday I was thinking about how much I hated him and everything he stood for, what's changed? While I was in deep thought, Rosalie brought me out of it

"Hello! Earth to Bella" I shook my head, smiling guiltily as she stood there confused by my reaction;

"Yeah... Sorry what?" she huffed out a breath and repeated her question, she didn't look amused;

"I said why are you here?" I gave a small smile, the only thing I could do; I felt so nervous for no reason;

"Oh I'm here to get Alice" she stood in thought for a moment, tilting her head and then looking at Emmett.

"Hmm... Well I'm sure Emmett wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer to bring you to school with us next time" she smiled warmly, it was weird thinking of her as a friend now instead of a demon witch who was sucking my brother's life away from him.

"Well, I'm sure I could sometime, I'm just giving Alice a lift until her cars fixed." On cue she came out of the doors arguing with someone, I gulped loudly, gaining a shared look between Rose and Emmett;

"Look! My outfit is just fine thank you very much, it does not look tacky!" I could hear Alice yelling at Edward; looking pissed off at his insults; no one ever insults her outfits, unless they had a death wish of course.

"You're wearing too much glitter and sequins, you look like a Barbie doll, and not the good kind" Edward came out laughing at the fact he was getting to her so easily, but I hated the fact he looked good in his faded jeans and buttoned up shirt;

"Bella, please tell my stupid brother that I look good?" she stood with her arms folded across her chest waiting for my insult to come, but I couldn't even look at him without feeling strange;

"Her outfit looks good... Alice you ready to go?" they all looked at me in shock, they've never heard me this quiet and shy before, maybe I should be talking more loudly, pretending he wasn't here?

"Um, sure?" she sounded as shocked as she looked; not understanding my new attitude as we walked to my car and sped off; I needed to get away from him, to think about things; I was acting like a stupid little girl with a crush;

The silence was awkward and of course Alice had to comment on it

"So what was that about?" I pretended to look confused, as if I had no idea what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" it was obvious she wasn't buying it, she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes; pissed that I was trying to trick her; this wasn't going to be good.

"What I mean is... The quiet statement, what happened to you insulting my brother every chance you got?" I shrugged casually, acting like I didn't give a shit;

"I just don't feel like being a bitch today, I didn't get a good night's sleep" now she looked worried, but at least my lying was improving

"Are you alright? You know you can tell me anything?" I rolled my eyes dramatically, smirking at her as if I was okay;

"Course I'm alright Al, just a nightmare... but it's over now so let's just get to class." I parked the car and waited for Alice to get out of the car, and then we headed to class.

The day flew by quickly, mainly because my head was elsewhere; all I could think about was my stupid dream. I doubt I could tell Alice because she would read too much into in and try and match make or something, and I really didn't need the drama. My thoughts drifted to telling Rosalie, I know we just became friends, kind of, but I'm sure I'd be able to trust her, she hates gossip so that means telling it too... Right?

Lunch was the worst, of course Emmett invited us to sit with them and Alice being Alice saw an opportunity to get close to Jasper, so I sat there looking at my food while they all talked and conversed. I answered a few questions but became silent, so they gave up trying to talk but they still looked worried, to my surprise Alice didn't even notice, she was far too busy staring at Jasper as he spoke to the people around him.

As the final bell went I couldn't wait to drop Alice off then drive home and keep busy. As I pulled up to her house she just stared out the window, daydreaming I guess

"Ali, we're at yours, you can get out now" shaking her arm she still looked dazed, as if she was dreaming about something a million miles away;

"Oh... Right, okay sure I'll see you tomorrow" I gave her a simple nod, saying a small "See ya" as she just stared at me for a minute then smiled and got out of the car, she skipped into the house and gave me one last wave before closing the door.

When I got home, it was a living nightmare, walking into the lounge to find Emmett and his friends sitting playing video games, I gulped and silently tip toed into the kitchen.

Grabbing a drink from the fridge I closed the door to find Edward leaning against the cupboard beside it. I covered my mouth from screaming; but I instantly glared at him, angry at the fact he tried to scare me... and succeeded.

"What the hell! Have you never heard of not sneaking up on someone. Talk about manners." He smiled and chuckled slightly, his laugh sounded like melted chocolate; smooth and light; I shook my head of the thought and it didn't go unnoticed

"Are you alright? You seem different today" he cocked his head to the side; looking worried as I stood there frozen to the spot; did he not know it was him causing me to act differently? I just shrugged

"Different? I'm acting the same as always Edward." He sighed loudly, not buying the lie I was trying to pull off.

"Well obviously you're not, you just called me by my real name instead of adding a funny word to stand in for Ed" I looked down to the floor; trying to keep my eyes from gazing into his; all I could think was _damn! _Even he's noticed.

"You're imagining things, I'm just tired" he walked closer to me and had a serious look on his face as our noses were almost touching; I felt the butterflies fluttering around my stomach, doing somersaults as I tried to keep the blush from appearing on my cheeks; he had such control over me, just because of a stupid dream I had last night.

"There's something wrong, I can tell." I took a step to the side, trying to get away from him

"Look, why would you care? I'm fine, just leave it alone" I sounded harsher than I planned, but I didn't care at that point; I just wanted to get out of there; I looked into his eyes to find a hint of worry in them which quickly turned to anger.

"You don't know anything" typical now he acts like a dick, why couldn't he be normal for once, instead of being such a bi-polar bitch;

"Whatever just piss off will ya?" I was getting angry, feeling wound up by him; why couldn't he just leave me alone, pretend that I didn't exist? Everything would be so much easier.

"You can pretend you're fine, but I know you're not, I'm here if you want to talk" WHAT? Have I entered a parallel world; his mood instantly changed, he was acting as if he liked me, cared about my well-being; something wasn't right

"Why on earth would I want to talk to you? You're the opposite of what I need, man whores aren't people you talk to"

"I may fuck a lot of girls, but it's them who offer it to me, not the other way around; maybe you don't know the reasons as to why I say yes." He looked hurt by my statement, he added venom to each word he spoke; was he really this emotional? He stormed off into the lounge with the others, ignoring me standing there in silence, shocked by his sudden burst of anger;

Taking a deep breath I walked outside, ripping my shoes off as I sat by the pool, the feeling of water crowding round my feet felt nice, especially with the feeling of a light breeze hitting my face, as least it cleared my mind for a short time.

"Bella?" I opened my eyes quickly, Rosalie looked down at me and her face soon turned warm and friendly.

"You okay?" sighing quietly I closed my eyes, trying to keep my voice steady

"I'm fine Rose, I'm just sick of being asked that one question all day, I'm tired. That's all!" she took her shoes off and sat down beside me

"Well that's complete bullshit, because I can tell by your face that you're thinking about something" I sighed and looked up towards the sky, the white clouds moving ever so gently and the birds that were flying with the others towards an unknown place.

"Have you ever had a dream that changes every thought process you've ever had?"

She slipped her heels off and joined me by the pool; taking a moment to think about my question.

"Once or twice, why, what's happened? You know I won't tell anyone unless you want me to" I smiled knowingly, she was someone I could trust, which I recently noticed that I couldn't find it in Alice, who was supposed to be the closest thing I have to a sister.

"My feelings have changed..." I looked at her waiting for a response; she turned to look at the water and then sighed

"Is this about our conversation over the weekend?" I looked down, not wanting to meet her staring gaze,

"Maybe... since we talked about it, all I can think about is 'him' and its scaring me, I hated him and his big ego, but now I'm scared to even be near him without feeling butterflies" she put her hand on my arm and smiled

"Don't fight what you feel Bell's, he likes you, that parts obvious, give him a chance to tell you and then everything will work out" why was she on his side all of a sudden, why did she want us to be together, for me to give him a chance; did she know something I didn't?

"Thanks Rose" she suddenly pulled me in for a hug, letting me know she cared; it felt nice, having someone I could trust completely;

"It's no problem; just know I'm here, kay?" I pulled myself out of the hug, smiling softly as I spoke.

"Yeah I know" as she got up, she grabbed her shoes and walked casually into the house while I sat outside for a while, thinking about whether or not I should actually give him a chance.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Thinking about what Rosalie said made me realise that everything about me was changing, instead of Alice being there for me, all she could do was obsess about Jasper noticing her.

I couldn't even go hang out with her at her house, just in case I ran into Edward. Since our 'discussion' in my house I hadn't gone near him, I was too worried about the outcome of what might happen if I did.

But now that I've realised I like the egotistical asshole, I'm going to plan how to avoid him for a very long time, or until he graduates in a few months, It'll be hard but I'm sure I can do it.

Alice and I hardly see each other, we've basically gone our separate ways, I'm friendlier with Rosalie now instead, it hurts that we've lost our friendship but I guess that's what happens in the end.

"Bella, you have to join the cheerleading squad! Just think, we can hang out more and you'll get to show off your lethal body" Rose had been trying for weeks to get me to try out for cheerleading, but I knew it was all about who looked good and who had the best body or boyfriend, so I refused to be a part of it.

"Rose I don't want to be a cheerleader, no offense but half those girls will be pregnant by the end of the year, being a cheerleader is like a target, all the guys try to sleep with you and most of the girls jump at the chance, so no thanks" she gave me a shocked look, but I knew she wasn't really surprised at all

"No it isn't, that's the slutty bitches, cheerleaders like moi, are more sophisticated." I rolled my eyes; no way could a cheerleader be sophisticated.

"PLUS! You'll get to see the football team more" she waggled her eyebrow's; I knew rightly what she was trying to hint.

"I'm shit at cheering Rose, trust me no one needs to see this train wreck" please believe me, PLEASE!

"That's bull shit and you know it, you've been doing gymnastics since you were young for Christ sake c'mon just try it" damn! This argument was getting nowhere, no wonder my brothers so whipped

"Fine, I'll TRY! But don't expect anything good." She jumped up and down and gave me a hug; scratch that, a BEAR hug! I could barely breathe by the end of it

"Yay! I'm so glad, and just to let you know... there's a surprise when you try out" she winked and then the bell went. Class didn't sound so bad at the minute.

Biting my nails was something I was glad to quit, but tryouts seemed to bring back the horrible habit. The gym was ready to combust with the amount of girls there to try out most of them were wearing skin tight clothes that clung to all the wrong places, why would they wear clothes like that for tryouts full of girls; besides that I knew I didn't have a hope in hell in making the team. I walk up to Rose and try to make her see reason

"Rose, I don't think I should be here, look at how many girls are here, I won't make it through the first round." She didn't accept my excuse; she just slapped my arm playfully and scowled;

"Bella trust me will ya? Stop worrying you'll do great" she gave me a hug and a smile and walked towards this table that was surrounded by girls. I wonder if that was the place you signed in or something. I started walking over when I stopped mid step, at least I know what the surprise was now, and I was seriously going to KILL Rosalie. Sitting at the table was none other than Edward, Emmett, Jasper & Tyler. GREAT! They must be here to judge the girls, kill me now!

"RIGHT LADIES LISTEN UP!" everyone quietened down and sat down were there was a space. _Which was limited, some girls even sat on other girls knees._

"Now, half of you won't even be making the first cut, so be warned if your name isn't called, the guys over here" she pointed towards the four guys

"Are here to judge you on three things, personality, skills and looks... ignore the crap about us accepting everyone, only the best can be in the squad. So if I call your name, walk to the other side of the room."

As she spoke the names all the girls were jumping so happily at their names being called, for once I hoped my name wasn't called, it meant I could run out of the room happy. But then near the end of the list I heard the one thing I didn't want to hear

"Emily Tanner, Bella McCarthy & finally Bree Miller, that's it, bitches, so leave if your name wasn't called... NOW!"

Girls literally ran out crying, it wasn't that much of a big deal, they needed to wise up, I didn't even want to be here, I glared at my brother who was smiling and waving along with Jasper, Tyler was busy checking out Laurens short skirt and Edward just sat, staring at me, probably trying to either subtly check me out or to see whether I was happy or not, hopefully he seen that I WASNT happy at all, the worst thing was that he really knew how to make me blush even with a single glance.

Now it was Tanya's turn to speak for the squad, god help us all.

"Okay, so like well done for the first rounds bitches, but now it's time for you to prove how good you are, kay? The first group needs to line up and follow the instructions" thankfully I was in the final group, which meant I had more time to memorise the moves. It was pretty basic mainly dancing with a few extensions, split lifts and some flips and the dreaded pyramid.

I looked over at the table to see what the guys thought of the other groups, Emmett always took things seriously when it came to judging or being asked for advice so he was watching the girls with a serious look, which was kind of hilarious since he was a dopey teddy bear,

Jasper was too busy writing down something on paper while Tyler was winking at Lauren, which she enjoyed a bit too much, let's just say we didn't need her swaying her hips and flicking her hair. Talk about desperate.

Then there was Edward, he was just looking into space, not really bothering to pay attention, but then he turned round and noticed me staring, his green orbs took a hold of me and I couldn't look away, they were beautiful, but full of confusion and pain, did he think I was that bad looking? I always thought he wanted to sleep with me, but maybe that was just to add more women onto his line of sluts.

"FINAL GROUP!" I jumped at the sound of Tanya's yell, I got up and we got into positions I took a final glance at the guys, who were all watching me, this is one of those moments that you hope you don't fall and end up a laughing stock.

The music started playing and we started the routine, by the end of it there was only three of us left out of 12, so lucky for us we didn't have to do the pyramid. Afterwards the guys were whispering to each other, probably pretending to pick people or to make it look as if they cared.

"LADIES The guys have like chosen the girls they want, so shut up and listen to me, I'm talking!" of course Lauren thought she was amazing, poor girl; she's one of those girls who have more STDs than grades.

"Only four girls will actually go through, so they are, Carey Smith, Emma Clifton, Amy Wilson & Bella McCarthy" when she said my name she made it sound like it was a chore to say, I knew it had something to do with my soon to be dead brother and his little followers.

"Well get over here and get your uniforms, we don't have all day" we walked up and got our uniforms where I seen an approving smile from Rose and a wink from Jasper, I just smiled and nodded at them, all I wanted was to get out of there alive before the bitch patrol attacked me.

"BELLA WAIT UP!" I stopped and turned around to see Rosalie running towards me.

"Congratulations Bells, I knew you'd get it, just to let you know tomorrow everyone has to wear their uniforms to school AND your hair has to be down, but bring something to tie it up for practice"

I felt overwhelmed, I didn't belong here, I was the type of girl who should've been in the library or sitting at home being a loner; but I pretended to be pleased, excited that I made it;

"Okay, well I'm going to go, I'll call you later"

I basically running out of the gym and went to the music room I looked through the different guitars and found my favourite acoustic; I really needed to unwind from today, who knew tryouts would be stressful?

The music room became filled with my voice and sound, music soothed me, relaxing me instantaneously, besides clearing my mind it made me feel like I was drifting off to somewhere I feel like I can be free.

Jason Mraz – won't give up was the song I always played here at the minute, something about it just made me feel special, it's was truly a beautiful song.

_I won't give up on us  
>Even if the skies get rough<br>I'm giving you all my love  
>I'm still looking up <em>

Singing the final words of the song I heard a light clapping noise behind me, I spun round and saw Edward casually leaning against one of the desks, smiling at me warmly.

"That was amazing, I didn't realise you had a talent for music" I gulped loudly, knowing he probably heard.

"Oh, Thanks, I was only messing around, it wasn't anything special" he shook his head playfully and laughed

"Nothing about you is ever plain, you're a very special girl Bella, You're one of a kind" I blushed at the statement, I never thought of myself in that way, but why was he being so nice to me?

"So whose idea was it to put me on the team?" I glared at him, trying to sound like an asshole, hoping he would leave; but he slowly got up and dragged his seat towards me so he could sit directly in front of me, staring into my eyes

"We all voted for you, but obviously for different reasons" I smirked, god knows what the reasons were, but I was curious;

"Oh really? And what were these reasons?" he edged closer to me, whispering quietly with his deep voice that made goose bumps pop up from my skin;

"Well, Emmett's picked you because he's whipped by Rosalie" I knew he was right, If Rose asked Emmett to dress as a woman and sing Barbie girl he probably would.

"Jasper voted for you because he thought you were really good and _Tyler _voted for you because you were 'hot'" he said Tyler's name like it tasted funny to even say, he was worse than a teenage girl when it came to drama.

"What about you?" I blurted it out without even realising; I really didn't want to know why he chose me... Or did I?

"I chose you because I thought you were amazing, I didn't know you could do gymnastics; you were pretty hot when you done those jumps"... He was doing this on purpose, dragging out his answer like he was teasing me "and?" he moved his face millimetres from mine, I could feel his warm breath on my skin and his minty breath causing me to melt with pleasure.

"And... because I think your beautiful" before I could even process what he said, he leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips.

Edward being a good kisser would be an understatement to say the least, I knew he would've kissed a lot of girls, but I didn't think it would of given this much skill for it, it was magic, the way his lips connected with mine.

It just felt right, and somehow, I felt dizzy, as if he took my breath away; the feeling of my lips clinging to his like a life line, something inside me changed. I knew right there and then that the feeling I had from the crazy dream wasn't that crazy at all, I couldn't even think because, for now, I was content to feel his breath come and go with mine.

He slowly brought his hand up to run through my hair and I then realised what I was doing. I suddenly pushed my head back and broke the kiss, it felt like breaking something important to me, but maybe that was the feeling of my friendship with Alice breaking for good. The first thing that came out of my mouth was "Oh shit" as he looked confused and dazed.

"Bella, are you alright, I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that" he was a shit liar, I knew he wasn't sorry; I could feel my cheeks burning, giving away the fact I enjoyed it;

"That's right you shouldn't have, fuck! I've got to go" I quickly grabbed my things and ran out of there with all the power I could. I could hear him yelling my name but I didn't care, I needed air and I needed to forget about what happened.

I knew in the end I wouldn't be able to avoid him after what happened, we would eventually have to talk and the one thing I wanted to make sure is that NO ONE would ever find out about the kiss, and about my feelings.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I opened my eyes and looked to the side, 5:34am, great, guess I won't be sleeping tonight then, why couldn't I get it out of my stupid mind.

Edward kissing me made everything worse, I knew he was only using me and trying to get another notch for his bed post, and maybe that's why it hurt so much.

The thought of Alice finding out was worrying me as well, she would probably try and either set us up which would end in catastrophe or she would be pissed that I even let it happen and that she was only joking about the whole, Edward & Bella thing.

I needed a plan, and not a little white lie that would cause probably only more problems than I already had to begin with.

I jumped out of bed and got ready for school early; a warm shower always cleared my thoughts and helped me think straight. I eventually ended up pacing so much it was bound to create a dent in the floor. _'C'mon Bella, we need a plan, what can we do to stop this becoming a big fat mess' _talking to myself, great now I becoming a mad person.

Edward kissed me, but for reasons that are unknown, but as I thought about it more, the feeling at the pit of my stomach started to appear, as I first thought I knew he was using me, but I couldn't help but feel he may have done it because he likes me, but that's a stupid idea. I could only do three things, ignore him even when he talks to me, be rude to him and pretend it never happened, or lie to him and make sure he thinks he knows how I really feel.

I might even be thinking into this too much, he may have wanted to forget as well, I knew he wouldn't tell anyone because he wouldn't want them to know a girl ran away from him before he could get with her. _Deep breaths, school will be fine and everything will work out._

I pulled up to my normal space and looked out the window and scanned the car park, My eyes eventually fell on Rosalie and Emmett making out, gross, just what a sister needs to see.

I got out of the car and made my way towards them when I felt someone's hand grab hold of my arm; I spun round to yell what the hell! When I noticed it was Edward holding on to me with a serious look on his face.

"Hey Bella, I think we need to talk" I decided to play it cool to start off with, so he didn't think I was actually trying to die inside

"Do we? I didn't think we had anything to discuss" he sounded a bit impatient today, not wanting to listen to my quick replies;

"Don't play dumb with me Bella, we both know your smart, I'm talking about what happened in the music room" I punched his arm, causing him to wince slightly; but I couldn't risk people hearing him;

"Will you quieten down? People might hear you" he looked hurt but then put his face back to emotionless

"What? You don't want anyone to know we kissed?" I clamped my hand over his mouth and whispered angrily

"Of course I don't! Do you think I want to be considered one of your little sluts you fuck around with, no thank you, so why don't we forget about all of this and go back to hating each other, okay?" now he looked pissed

"No its not okay, I never hated you Bella, I've always thought you were different from everyone else, that's why I wanted to kiss you, I wasn't wrong about you being special." I just stared at him with a blank look on my face, why would he think I'm special? I was just a normal human being, just like him and everyone else.

I ripped my arm away from him and then gave him a stern look

"Just forget about it Edward, Please, just this once" his face softened when he noticed I was dead serious,

"Bella, I won't ever forget, I like you and I'm going to win you over" he then smiled walked over to the others. The bell rang and I just stormed off the class, not even bothering to talk to anyone around me.

"Hi Bella" I turned round into the face of Alice; she suddenly crawled out from the rock she was living under and decided to talk to me? Yeah right, it was obviously was to do with Jasper and I couldn't be bothered with that drama today

"Hi Alice" she looked hurt that I wasn't happy to see her, but what did she expect? A big hug and an 'Oh my god Al I've been lost without you' Hmph! I don't think so.

"Is there something you needed?" I wanted this conversation to end quickly before I blurt something stupid out

"Oh I just wanted to talk to you, catch up and stuff, I haven't seen you in a while" I shrugged slightly

"Well we've both been pretty busy i guess, you with whatever you were doing and me with cheerleading and hanging out with Emmett & Rose plus the others" her eyes lit up at the last few words.

I stayed silent the rest of the class, I wasn't in the mood for fake conversations that would either lead to awkwardness or whatever else that would make me pissed.

The bell went and it was lunch already. This was the one time i wanted to avoid, what was I going to do? Sit with them and be nervous the whole time, or spend it alone, in the library or outside in the rain? Why me? Slowly I made my way to the cafeteria and looked to see if anyone was at our table yet, just my luck that everyone was there,

Rose noticed me and waved me over, I just smiled and turned back to the line, I wasn't hungry but it was buying me some time to think of a plan to leave; I bought an apple and rushed towards the doors, wanting to leave as quickly as possible.

"Bells, over here!" Emmett had to yell across the whole place, now everyone was half looking, so now I had to go and sit with them. I sat down on one of the chairs and just looked at my apple, trying to ignore the stares i was getting from everyone at the table.

"Bella, you okay?" Rose whispered to me as if she knew exactly why i was upset, i simply smiled and nodded

"I'm fine Rose, just tired I guess" I glanced around the table and the only person looking at me now was Edward, i gave him a pleading look and he got the message and started talking to Tyler.

"DUDE, who are you taking to the Halloween party? The girls are getting asked all over the place, not many to pick from" Tyler waggled his eyebrows, nodding towards the opposite side of the room where most of the girls in the school were sitting;

"I'm not going this year" he muttered the words quietly as he ate his lunch, not wanting to talk about it.

"WHAT!" everyone's heads popped up at the sound of Tanya's screeching, she got off her chair and scurried over to him, looking upset by his decision.

"But Eddie, you can take me! Il be your sexy nurse" she winked and brought her hand up to his chest while i cringed, Tanya dressing up as a slutty nurse was not an image i needed to see!

"No thanks Tanya, I don't want to go this year" she huffed and put her arms around him standing behind him as if she was his girlfriend; _not a chance_

"Edward, what's wrong mate? Halloween was one of your favourite times?" Emmett must've known something was upsetting Edward, but could it really have been me that pissed him off?

"I'm just not into this year, just leave it" he scraped his chair on the floor, gave me one look and then stormed off

"Do you know what's wrong with him Bella?" I gave Emmett the most convincing confused face i could,

"Why would i know Em, we don't like each other remember?" he simply nodded at my answer, not pressing any further, I was thankful; at least someone understood;

The rest of the day dragged in, i don't get why he was so emotional about this, I'm sure my kissing skills sucked compared to other girls and it's not like we were friends or anything. Far from it, we were basically enemies, except for the fact we kissed and that he was being a bitch about it all. I hated the fact that all i wanted to do was kiss him again. I needed to try and get over this little 'crush'.

When we got home, Rose and me were sitting on the sofa watching the boys play the Xbox, how could this be so entertaining to guys? I really don't understand the mind of teenage boys.

"Bella Bee, what are you dressing up as for the Halloween party" I didn't really have any clue so I was going to have to improvise

"I was thinking of dressing up as an angel, just wearing a white dress and wings, that sort of thing, what about you?" she beamed at the thought of mentioning it

"I'm going as Marilyn Monroe, you should go as a Victoria's secret model; it means a bikini and wings? It would be so hot!" no way would I do that, I didn't want guys coming over to me and trying to feel me up; or worse, ripping my bikini top off in front of everyone; I shuddered at the thought;

"In this weather? Yeah right, I'd rather be that bit warmer with a dress" she sat there for a minute, thinking about what I could go as, but I wasn't bothered.

"If you want Bella, we could go together? It means all the guys will leave you alone?" Jasper decided it was his chance to ask me to the dance, i didn't know whether to accept or not, i only liked him as a friend, but i think he meant it as something more. Plus drama with Alice would make things a lot worse and i wasn't ready to be tortured with her theories of trying to steal him away from her.

"Thanks for the offer Jazz, but I'm going to go on my own, but save me a dance"he half smiled and muttered a small "sure, sounds good" before sitting down and played the game with Emmett.

This party was going to be the death of me, but it could be fun right? I need something to relieve all this stress and partying sounded like a good idea... At the time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The next week couldn't have been more awkward, Edward was really moody with everyone and I was always stuck on my own with Jasper, which got me a few dirty looks from Alice and Edward, but since he was being an ass we weren't going near him, who needs a spoil sport who would make us all suffer? And with Alice I was just thinking what the hell? After having such a good friendship to nothing, I'm shocked she would think I would try and steal jasper away from her; I'm just not that type of person.

Jasper & I hung out 24/7 as the week progressed, and we were basically best friends now, I felt like I had two big brothers instead of one. He was someone I could trust and that was hard to find these days.

Walking down the halls was definitely a new experience, everyone stared and whispered, and probably creating rumour's that we were together, but only the important people knew the truth so we were fine with it.

"So, have you sorted out this whole Edward situation?" I decided to tell him about the whole Edward thing, I knew he would understand and he knew how sensitive I was about it, and now he understood why Edward was such a grumpy ass these days.

"Nope, to be honest, it's over, I don't want to even think about it" complete and utter lies! That was my one problem, I was still thinking about it, not as much now that I'm busy but when I'm on my own I couldn't help but think about him

"You should really talk to him about it, he seems like he's still pissed off" he was always the one who tried to neutralise the situation; I simply shrugged, not caring if he was such an ass.

"Let him be, it's not _my_ fault he's a moody ass, I never asked him to do it, it just happened so why should I suffer for something he knew he shouldn't have done" he looked directly at me

"Well since you obviously liked it, you need to tell him how you feel" why did I have to tell him I kind of liked Edward, I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Which is what exactly" he smirked and cocked his head to the side

"That your falling for him" I scoffed, I was not falling for Edward, I just had a small crush that would eventually go away; it was nothing.

"That's complete bull shit! I am not **in love** with Edward Cullen" Arms flew round me, bringing me into a backward hug as I heard a soft laugh

"Good, because if you did, I would have to send you to a mental institution" I rolled my eyes at her, only she could think I was mental unstable.

"Thank you Rose for your wise words."

"No problem sweetie, but you know if you do like a _certain someone_, you can always tell me" I knew I could, but I couldn't even admit it to myself let alone Rose;

"I know I can, but I don't and I never will" I hoped that was true, that I didn't feel that strongly towards him, I just couldn't;

"Yeah right." And with that she strutted off towards Emmett and the others,

"Don't worry Bells, if you're not ready to admit it we won't force you to." Jasper kissed my cheek, causing me to blush as he put his arm around me, making me feel secure; he had turned into such a good friend; I loved him for it.

It was already Halloween and I was excited for the night out, I was ready to just let go and be free for ONE night without any thoughts putting me off anything or everything.

"Bella, you ready?" I muttered curse words towards him, did he not understand it took ages for a girl to get ready, even me.

"ONE MINUTE EMMETT" I finished putting my wings on and walked down the stairs to find Rose looking gorgeous in her Marilyn Monroe outfit, with Jasper in an army uniform and Emmett dressed as a pimp

"Really Em, a Pimp! You never seize to surprise me" he put one foot in front of the other and spun round, looking as if he looked amazing; why did Rose let him dress like that?

"Thanks sis, but you can't wear that!" looking confused I look at him funny, why couldn't I wear this? It looked great;

"Why not?" the way he looked at it he must've thought I was an idiot for not knowing the answer

"It's too revealing" I looked down at my white body con dress with my white stiletto heels and looked back up at him

"Everything important is covered, so quit complaining." We all laughed at the look he gave me, he knew he wouldn't change my mind about it so we just headed to the party.

We walked into the auditorium to orange and black EVERYTHING, from banners to balloons plus cob webs and pictures of haunted houses with ghosts flying around the room. It looked amazing, and so did nearly everyone, some people decided to go crazy and wear something absolutely stupid like a condom or a pencil. Where would you get these costumes? They looked ridiculous. To my surprise most of the football team came as... surprise surprise FOOTBALL PLAYERS. Could they not think of anything more original?

"Here Bella, there's Edward, why don't you go over to him and talk" I glanced over to where Jasper was pointing to find Edward surrounded by girls, no wonder they were crowding round him, he looked so hot in his sailors outfit, a white suit and hat, was he trying to torture me slowly!

"No Jasper, let's just have fun okay? NO Edward talk at least for tonight" Lucky for us they didn't play any cheesy Halloween music, just plain pop songs or dance tunes that we could all dance too.

Dancing with the guys was so much fun; everyone was just having a good time and pretending for one night that we all liked each other.

Everyone except Tanya and her bitches, they decided to wear the most REVEALING outfits known to man. Tanya was dressed as a _glamour_ model if you can call it that, she was basically wearing hot pants with hooker boots and a bikini bra, while the other dressed as a slutty nurse and playboy bunny.

"Jazz, I'm just heading to the bathroom I'll be two minutes" he looked around, trying to find someone from the crowd of people on the dance floor;

"Rose will go with you hold on" I didn't need a bodyguard to the bathroom, it was Forks High, nothing would've happened; the place wasn't haunted.

"No it's fine Jazz, it's just to the bathroom, seriously, what could happen?" I smiled and squeezed his arm before walking off. The halls were eerie compared to usual, they were quiet and no one was around, basically a ghost town, but hearing your own footsteps echo made you have a sense of fear, especially on Halloween.

The bathroom was empty as well, you'd think most of the girls would be here to fix their makeup or hair, maybe anything to get more 'gorgeous' for a guy but no. I don't know why but I just felt strange, like someone was watching me...

I shook my head and just fixed my makeup. I suddenly heard footsteps and I turned quickly to see no one there. I think I was slowly losing my mind. I grabbed my things and started walking out of the bathroom when suddenly I hit someone with the door, which resulted in them falling with a loud thump.

"Oh my fucking god, I'm so sorry!" I looked down and saw mike lying on the ground dazed slightly, all I could smell was booze, I wonder if he was drunk before or after he got here.

"Mike are you alright?" he gradually got up, nearly falling down in the process and slurred his words

"I'm s-super fine, don't worry about it babe" I cringed internally; I hated being called babe by someone who wasn't even remotely good looking enough to say it.

"Okay well I'm really sorry, I'm going to head back now" I slowly walked away when I heard him following me.

"Wait! I need s-some help here, you knocked me down" I was started to feel annoyed now, why couldn't he get the hint,

"Look mike I really need to get back, so what's wrong" he took a minute to process my words, looking confused and tired;

"Help me to my locker, I need something cool and it's needed for s-something or something" he made no sense what so ever so I rolled my eyes and helped him to his locker which was literally two seconds away.

"There you go Mike, have fun" he grabbed my arm forcefully, I already knew it would end up bruised by the end of this; but I just wanted out of here.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me babe" I tried ripping my arm from his tight grip; but it was impossible, what was he doing?

"Let go of my arm now!" I said it slowly and calmly, not wanting to make it worse even though I was absolutely petrified beyond belief!

"NO! I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU!" what was with him, he was sounding crazy, he just said thank you; why did he want me to stay?

"Okay and you've said it, I accept, so I'm just going to walk away now alright?" he shook his head violently, trying to make me understand; I was starting to feel creeped out, but I didn't let it show, I needed to get away from him;

"You don't understand me, I'm saying thank you MY WAY!" he threw me aggressively against the lockers, my head hitting against them as I suddenly seen stars, I couldn't move, I felt dizzy and nauseous but I _could_ feel the blood slowly making its way down the side of my face;

"Now, s-stay s-still for me" he lay me flat on the ground and started taking his trousers off, I can't believe he was going to do this to me, I've never even spoken to the guy much, let alone done anything to him.

People said your 'life flashes before your eyes' when something like this happened, but they were wrong, all I could think was why wasn't I fighting back, I felt so dizzy and sick to my stomach that he was about to do this; why couldn't Jasper walk by looking for me or anyone!

I could feel my tears trickling down my face as I winced in pain; wondering why this wasn't over yet; did he change his mind, did he pass out from the amount of alcohol he consumed? I slowly opened my eyes, scared of what I might see; but I could suddenly hear yelling, screaming; I seen mike on the ground, getting beaten by Edward; Edward's fist colliding with every part of mike, trying to hurt him; how did he find me? At that point I didn't care; he was my saviour.

"DONT EVER TOUCH HER AGAIN, YOU UNDERSTAND" I could hear Mike trying to breathe for air, trying to stop Edward as he whimpered in pain;

"y-yes" he gave him a final punch which rendered him unconscious and he rushed to my side, looking angry yet scared; worried about the blood that now ruined my white dress; how was I going to explain that one – great.

"Bella, BELLA, are you alright? He's not going to hurt you anymore, I promise you, I'll protect you." I believed him, he sounded so sure, so confident; I smiled softly as I lay there, the only thing I could do with the pain becoming worse; he held my hand as he moved a strand of hair that was sticking to the blood and putting it behind my ear;

"E-Edward?" I could barely speak at this point and all I could manage was a small whisper, what was wrong with me, I just wanted to go home, to go to sleep;

"Shush love, help will get here soon." He tightened his grip on my hand, trying to keep me awake as he grabbed his phone, trying to call someone, anyone who could help; I knew I was going to pass out, my vision was blurred and Edward voice was fading into the background, I squeezed his hand gently, making him look at me as my eyes closed slowly, feeling heavy as they fell;

"Thank you" I whispered as everything went black, peaceful and painless; it felt better, much better.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_I open my eyes to find myself blinded by a bright light, I felt so serene and happy, I quickly adjusted my eyes and looked around me to see where I was, I was in the beautiful meadow again, lying on the soft fluffy grass while smelling the aroma of wildflowers surrounding me. _

"_Love, are you awake?" I slowly move my head to the side and a male silhouette appeared, shadowing the light that one blinded me, even though I couldn't see him properly, I could feel the protection and love radiating off of him and I could feel myself starting to feel warm inside from just thinking about this one man _

"_Yes, I'm awake... Who are you?" his hand was gently holding mine, looking lovingly into my eyes; _

"_I'm here to protect you beautiful, whenever you need me I'll always be here, I'll never leave you" tears were forming in my eyes, firstly because he called me beautiful and secondly because he loved me enough that he would never leave me, no one's ever made me feel as wanted as this stranger right here in front of me. _

"_This is a dream isn't it?" he smiled softly, nodding once as he caressed my cheek;_

"_It may be a dream, but I'm outside of here, of the meadow; waiting for you even if you don't realise it." I could suddenly feel a sharp pain making its way into my head, causing me to scream out in pain; what's happening to me, why can't someone help me!_

"Bella, BELLA, are you alright? He's not going to hurt you anymore, I promise you, I'll protect you." I believed him, he sounded so sure, so confident; I smiled softly as I lay there, the only thing I could do with the pain becoming worse; he held my hand as he moved a strand of hair that was sticking to the blood and putting it behind my ear;

"E-Edward?" I could barely speak at this point and all I could manage was a small whisper, what was wrong with me, I just wanted to go home, to go to sleep;

"Shush love, help will get here soon." He tightened his grip on my hand, trying to keep me awake as he grabbed his phone, trying to call someone, anyone who could help; I knew I was going to pass out, my vision was blurred and Edward voice was fading into the background, I squeezed his hand gently, making him look at me as my eyes closed slowly, feeling heavy as they fell;

"Thank you" I whispered as everything went black, peaceful and painless; it felt better, much better.

I felt drowsy and tired, drained of every ounce of energy I may have had from that night; the dream had me lying on grass that felt so great, now I was on something hard, something uncomfortable; it felt as though I was lying on a bed of nails.

The smell of the room was overpowering, it was burning my nose and smelt too... clean? If that was even possible, like bleach mixed with febreeze. My sore head worsened every time I heard a machine beeping beside me; _maybe there's a snooze button?_

I opened my eyes to a blinding light, was I back in my dream? Or was it slowly becoming my own personal nightmare. I noticed I was in a small but bright white room, and when I say white I mean EVERYTHING was white, the walls, the floors, even the furniture was a type of white or shiny metal.

I started seeing different blurred shapes sitting and pacing, my eyes gradually started forming those shapes into people, and it was my dad looking angry yet exhausted; a man who I'm guessing was maybe my doctor, who was trying to help me; and Edward... EDWARD!

It was all coming back to me, what happened to me and Edward saving me, it sounds cheesy but he was my hero, he stopped that asshole hurting me, from causing me the worst kind of pain imaginable; the words kept going through my mind that he said "I'll protect you" and I felt like he actually meant it.

"Dad?" my throat was so dry it came out as a croaking noise, they all turned round as my dad raced to my bedside; smiling gently towards me;

"Sweetheart, your awake, how are you feeling? I'm going to murder that son of a..."

"Mr Swan, she's just woken up, why don't I check her stats and then you can ask her questions... Why don't you both head out and I'll call you back when I'm finished" they both looked like they didn't want to leave but they left with a worried look.

He walked over with a warm smile and took the clipboard off the end of the bed, looking down as if he was checking something;

"Hello Bella, I'm Doctor Cullen but you can call me Carlisle" Cullen? Was he Edward's dad? He definitely could be, he was handsome enough with his long blonde hair, his warm green eyes that matched Edwards; I brought my hand to my head, wincing at the tenderness as my fingertips grazed the bump;

"How long have I been sleeping?" he looked down at the papers again and smiled, was that the only thing this man ever did?

"Only 24 hours, you had a very bad concussion, we're just glad you're looking better than before." A whole day? You've got to be kidding me; did he bang my head that hard?

"Bella, do you remember anything about that night?" he sat at the end of my bed, looking down to me as I thought about it more; what did happen, I know Mike threw me against the lockers, but everything else was blurred; the only thing I did know was that Edward saved me;

"I think I remember most of it, Mike tried to hurt me and Edward saved me." He smiled at what my answer; he must be proud of his son;

"Yes, Edwards been here since you were admitted, he's been very worried for you" now that surprised me, I don't know why it did, he always said he was worried; but I felt happy at the thought, that he cared for me... I was turning into such a girl;

"I owe him everything for saving me, I don't know how to thank him" and it was true, I owed him my life; god knows what Mike would've done if Edward hadn't came and found me.

"I'll go get him for you" he went outside and soon enough Edward came into the room, wearing sweats and a t-shirt, he looked exhausted, he was paler than usual; with dark purple bags lying under his eyes; his face was covered in stubble, which meant he hasn't been home yet; I felt so bad for him, for staying here in the hospital just for me, a girl who treated him like shit for years;

"Edward, thank you so much, if you didn't get there when you did i-i" my eyes were burning from the tears that threatened to fall I felt as though I could just fall to pieces; just break down and cry, the emotions just came over me, forcing me to burst into silent sobs; he rushed over to me, hugging me gently to comfort me; he kissed the side of my head, not wanting to kiss the cut on my head;

"Shush, it's okay, I was so worried about you, I'm glad you okay, I'll always be here for you, always; it's going to be okay" we sat holding each other for what felt like only minutes, but I could've stayed like this forever; I never knew how much I needed him until now, he was more important to me than ever; I craved his touch, his voice; his beautiful green eyes staring into mine;

The door creaked open and I noticed my dad popping his head in, happy to see me talking to Edward, I guess my dad liked him now for saving his little girl;

"Bella sweetie, there's a few people here to visit you, do you want me to tell them to come back?" I wiped the tears away and sadly broke myself from the hug me and Edward were sharing.

"Yeah sure, let them in" the door opened further and Rose, Jasper & Emmett rushed in with flowers and bags of sweets, Emmett smiled softly as he darted over, leaving Rose and Jazz by the seats;

"Hey sis, how you feeling, I got you a big teddy bear; I wasn't allowed to bring it in though so it's sitting in your room." He was so sweet; he always knew how to cheer me up;

"Thank you Emmett, come here and give me a hug, I need it" he walked to the other side of the bed, giving me a small but firm hug; I closed my eyes and smiled, it felt nice to know he was here

"I'm so sorry Bella, I should've been there for you, instead I was busy dancing, it's my fault" he was blaming himself for this? what the hell, he didn't do anything, he wasn't the monster who hurt me, he wasn't the one trying to force me into something I didn't want to do; he was having fun, like he should've been doing in the first place;

"No it's not Emmett, you were there to have fun, and no one knew it was going to happen, it's actually my fault, I should've agreed to Jasper getting Rose to go with me, but I'm glad she didn't though, I would've hated for her to get hurt like me" Rose grabbed my hand firmly letting a single tear fall down her cheek;

"Bella, we are so glad your alright, you had a moment of stupidity not getting me to go with you, but I'm just glad Edward was there to help" she looked towards Edward like the others; looking grateful for his help, he stood there frowning, looking as though he didn't deserve the attention; he deserved so much more; I would repay him, I had to;

Emmett gave Edward a bear hug, looking proud of his friend;

"Thanks man for saving my sis, I owe you one" he looked upset, guilty even, what had he to feel guilty about, he hadn't done anything wrong?

"No its okay, I'm glad I was there to help her" Jasper came over and sat beside me, looking distraught and hurt; I knew he must've been feeling guilty; but it wasn't his fault either; I was being stubborn, something I really should try and stop;

"Bella, I feel terrible for not going with you, I don't know why I said I'd get Rose I should've just escorted you" I shook my head, wincing at the pain and dizziness taking over; I tried ignoring it, wanting to say my piece as he sat there with tears falling from his eyes; I couldn't let him suffer;

"Jazz, it's no one's fault, I wish you would all stop blaming yourselves, there's only one person at fault and god knows where he is" I felt a pang of fear, knowing he would be in school the next day.

"Don't worry sis, he's been arrested for assault and underage drinking or something; but we don't know what's happening yet." I sighed with relief; feeling safer as I leant my head into Jaspers shoulder;

We all sat for around an hour, just laughing and being normal again, I knew right there and then these were the friends I needed; the people who actually cared about me, who wanted to keep me safe and healthy;

All of a sudden we all heard a small knock on the door as Alice appeared, looking guiltily at me but quickly changing it to a small smile; I'm surprised she even came in to visit me;

"Hey Bell's I'm happy your awake" there was an awkward silence filling the room, was it supposed to be this awkward, she used to be my best friend, I don't even know why we weren't really on speaking terms;

"Thanks Alice, I'm feeling a bit better" she nodded once as her eyes scanned the room, looking at everyone sitting around me, pretending to be invisible;

"I'll come back later; I just wanted to see you were alright" I knew she wanted to leave, but I didn't want to be rude; I didn't want her to feel as though I was pushing her out because I had other friends visiting;

"You can stay if you want to?" she shook her head lightly, looking at the ground; did something happen while I was asleep? The others sat there as if nothing was happening; looking at anything they could;

"No its okay, I need to talk to you in private, it can wait" and with that she walked out of the room swiftly; how weird? Jasper decided to break the awkward silence that followed her quick exit;

"That was a bit strange?" I shrugged my shoulders, knowing it was but maybe she had her reasons; she looked tired and scared so maybe she just felt frightened for my safety as well?

"She probably just wanted to tell me something, it's no big deal" Rose raised her eyebrow as she crossed her legs and folded her arms against her chest, looking like she didn't believe a word of it;

"Chick, you haven't spoken to her in what, weeks? What would she have to say to you?" Rose had a point, but I knew it had to be important if she came this quickly after my accident;

"Well whatever it is, she thinks it's important enough to talk in private, so I'll have to wait until I'm better to hear it"

As we continued talking about school and other stuff that happened at the dance, Dr Cullen came in, smiling at everyone getting on and having fun; he looked to Edward and then to the others;

"Okay kids, it's time to leave Bella to sleep" they all protested and asked to stay a bit longer but Dr Cullen wasn't having any of it, he was very strict about this kind of stuff; but a few more minutes couldn't hurt could it?

"If you want her to get better she needs to sleep, now shoo" and with that they all hugged me and slowly left, Edward was the last one to leave as he unhurriedly hugged me and whispered in my ear

"I'll be back tomorrow, get better so okay? If you need me for anything just tell the nurse to call my dad and to tell me" I smiled up at him, grateful for his offer; he really had me falling for him; especially after this, I didn't even feel the need to hide it, I was falling for Edward Cullen.

"Thank you again Edward" his face quickly turned to pain; as if I hurt him with my words; did he not want me to thank him? He shook his head and brought a smile to his face, but it never met his eyes; they still looked pained

"It's no problem, as long as you're safe and well" he kissed my forehead and left; but as I lay there on my own, I thought about everything, I honestly didn't know whether it was him saving me or me having him in all of my dreams, but I was definitely falling for Edward, and fast!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Bella, you ready to go?" I sighed loudly; couldn't I have a few minutes to get ready?

"In a minute dad, give me a few seconds." He grunted as he sat down, waiting for me to pack the rest of my things; I refused to let him help me, I wanted to do it on my own;

After the hospital visit Edward stayed true to his word and visited me every day until I got home, he was so sweet, bringing me magazines, my I-pod – buying me flowers and sweets as he sat there talking to me for hours about nothing;

All of them decided to stay with me every day, at least until I was ready to get back to school. I hated the fact I had to go back, but it was something I had to do; when we got home I just went straight to bed, feeling tired after short trip home; I guess lying in hospital for a few days really did drain your energy.

As the days passed quickly I was sad that today was the day I go back; but the good news is that I now see Edward in a whole new light, I always thought he used to be a pompous prick that cared about no one but himself, but now I know he's a sweet and kind guy who is willing to look after me because he cares.

It's been a week since the 'almost' accident, I try not to think about it, but apparently Mike goes back to school this week as well, because he was a minor and hadn't done anything wrong they had to let him go with just a warning; I was furious and scared but it was kind of true, he technically didn't do anything except hit my head off a locker; Edward stopped him before anything terrible happened so he really was innocent in a way; it sucked, big time!

I came downstairs and smiled at the normality of everything, dad was just sitting there at the table, reading the morning paper while drinking his mug of coffee; I walk over slowly and give him a big hug,

"I think you should skip one more day Bells, it might be good for you" I sighed heavily, already having this argument for the past week; I always let him win; but I knew I'd have to go back sooner or later; I couldn't miss anymore classes;

"I'll see you later dad and don't worry, I'll be fine!" he leant back and kissed my cheek, making me smile softly;

"I just worry about you kid" I smiled; I definitely loved this man, he was the best dad anyone could ask for, he was always there for me; he was one of a kind;

"I know, I love you dad" he smiled widely, blushing like I usually did; no wonder people thought we were alike;

"Love you too, see you after school" I quickly grabbed my keys and ran to my car; wanting to get this over with; no point dragging it out right?

I parked my car and sat there for a few minutes, debating whether I could actually have the courage to go in, I know I eventually have to, but I hate the fact he's making me feel so scared, I've never been scared of anything, yet here I am basically shaking in my car at the thought of our eyes meeting, of him speaking to me like nothing happened; would he even say sorry for what he done? I doubt it.

A small tapping sound hit my window as I jumped back with fright, I looked up and seen Emmett looking guilty; who the hell sneaks up on someone like that? He opened my car door, helping me out of the car; I just needed to grow a pair, be less paranoid;

"Shit sis, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" I rolled my eyes, playfully punching his arm, he was already off the hook for it, he didn't mean to.

"Em you could never scare me, I was just in my own world and you made me jump" he accepted my answer, barely; but he knew I was still a bit shaky from last week; he put his arm around my shoulders as I snuggled in close to him; wanting to be invisible for the day;

"Oh right... well are you ready to head inside?" was I? I didn't feel like I was, but I had to face it, face him and all the looks I'd get from everyone; I took a deep breath

"Yeah I'm ready"

As soon as we started walking across the parking lot, I could FEEL the stares of everyone around me, they either give me a look of pity or a look of jealously, the girls must've heard that Edward saved me and probably thought we were together or something... _I wish_ – I sighed, which didn't go unnoticed by Emmett who looked angry at all of them;

"Just ignore them, there all idiots" he was right, they were; none of them knew what really happened and I wasn't ready to tell anyone; not yet anyways.

"I know, it's not _them_ I'm worried about" his face turned soft, feeling nervous for me; but I knew he was here to protect me;

"He will never be near you again! We'll all make sure of it"

Classes went on as usual, and I had yet to see anyone besides Emmett, it was like they all disappeared; where are they? It worried me... I guess they had to get to class early and Em got an exception for being my big brother; the school was understanding about all of this, claiming they would try and help me feel safe again; _yeah, like I ever could_.

As I'm walking to the cafeteria I saw Rose standing with a group of people looking in, looking scared; what was happening? Someone poked her arm, pointing towards me as her eyes became wide, she ran over quickly, trying to push me into the opposite direction

"Bella, how about we go somewhere else for lunch?" I suddenly heard yelling and tables screeching, the sound of things crashing onto the cafeteria floors;

"Rose what's going on?" she looked as worried as I did, but probably for a different reason, I had no clue what was going on, but she did; I had to know, was Emmett in there, was Jasper or Edward in there too?

"Mike's back to school, and the guys didn't take it very well that he strutted in all happy" I gulped, feeling it slowly make its way down my throat; the fear hit me quickly; making me feel powerless, I knew he'd be back to school, but not on the same day as me; how nice of the school for letting me know; not!

"Is that the guy's making that noise?" I heard more screaming and banging coming from the cafeteria, what were they doing in there!

"A few of the football players are trying to stop the fight but most of them wanted to join in, we don't know how to stop it, not even the teachers can, there thinking of calling the police"

No way, they couldn't call the police; Emmett and the others would be the ones at fault; they would be the ones getting in trouble for this; I couldn't let that happen,

"But that means they could suspend half the team! This is ludicrous, they can't do this" I nervously stormed towards the cafeteria, not even thinking about what I was doing. Hearing the screams of Rose as I walked faster, trying not to back out of this, what could I do or say to stop this? Probably nothing but I needed the guys out of there before it became worse for them.

I opened the doors not expecting what I was about to see; tables were thrown around the room; there was glass everywhere and blood splatter from people being punched and kicked. I saw a big ball of people crowded round one area, and once they broke away giving me a good view of everything I saw why, a lot of the football team were holding Emmett down as he tried to break free; wanting to kill Mike; while another group held Jasper as he screamed at Mike; the rest were trying to pull Edward off Mike as he punched him harder each time, he looked so angry, it scared me, the rage in his eyes; the strength of his clenched fists hitting Mikes face; the blood flying everywhere.

Before I could think about it I just yelled his name, thinking it would get him attention; he had to stop, not just for him, but for his friends, for me;

"EDWARD!" everyone turned, including mike towards me, one of his eyes was closed over, his face was covered in gashes and blood; I didn't even realise I was crying so much until Edward ran towards me and held me tightly to his chest, trying to control my violent sobs;

"Bella, I'm so sorry, you don't need to see this" I shook my head, feeling as though it was my fault; why couldn't I have just waited for someone that night, someone to look after me; I could've stopped this from happening.

"Please just leave it be, it's over, I don't want any of you in trouble because of me" their faces all softened except for Mike, you could tell he was angry, furious at my presence;

"OVER? You SLUT, you asked for it, basically begged me to do it and you make it sound like I done something bad" I stepped back, that hurt, how dare he say that, what the hell! Emmett pulled his arms from whoever was holding him and charged towards Mike, hitting him wherever he could, it was scary to see him so angry, I didn't think it was even possible;

"EMMETT JUST STOP! I don't want you to get in trouble, some one stop him!" Tyler and James grabbed him and dragged him outside as Rose ran to him and started screaming at him; looking terrified at what will happen to him.

"C'mon love, let's get you some air while they sort this out" Edward spoke quietly, not wanting to startle me; he took me outside where everyone was just standing in shock; I never noticed that Edward was covered in blood, Mikes blood, I looked at my clothes, realising I didn't have any on me, which made it worse; the blood was drying on Edwards skin, on everything; how long was he fighting?

"E-Edward, you're covered in blood" he looked down and had a nervous look on his face, as if he had done something wrong; he was right, he shouldn't have done this, any of it.

"Bella, are you alright, I'm sorry if I scared you, we were just so angry seeing him here pretending nothing happened we all snapped, we won't do it again if it hurts you" I couldn't be angry at him for that, what he did was stupid, but he had a reason to do it; he wanted to look after me, how could I stay mad at that?

"Thank you Edward, but go get cleaned up before a teacher yells at you, I don't want any of you in trouble." He gave me his crooked grin, looking happy to see me care; of course I cared, he was my hero; he kissed my forehead gently, looking down at me affectionately

"I'll go get cleaned up but Rose is coming round to stay with you okay?"

I nodded and waited for Rose to walk over, letting Emmett go with Jasper and Edward to get cleaned up before anything else happened;

All of a sudden the janitors arrived to clean the cafeteria, looking bewildered at the mess; the teachers refused to let us stay after everything, so luckily enough we were all sent home for the day, knowing they couldn't prevent any more trouble from happening.

All I did was sit on the sofa, clung to a pillow as Mikes word's echoed my mind _"OVER? You SLUT, you asked for it, basically begged me to do it and you make it sound like I done something bad"... "YOU SLUT. ASKED FOR IT, SLUT SLUT SLUT" _

"Bella sweetie?" I came out of my thoughts and saw all of them looking at me like someone was having a heart attack,

"Yeah?" they still looked anxious as hell, but I didn't care, I just wanted to be alone, to think about what he said; why did he call me a slut, I didn't ask for it, I didn't give him any signs that I was interested in him; why would he think that?

"Are you alright?" I nodded, thinking of something to say; why couldn't they just go and have fun while I sit here by myself; I needed space, away from everything

"I'm fine why?" they shared a look between them as one of them tried to think of something to say; Rose spoke up over the others; explaining why they asked;

"Well you were just sitting there staring into space, we were concerned" I looked down, I know their concerned, but there's nothing to be worried about anymore

"Thanks guys, but why don't you all worry about the fact that you might be suspended for fighting with no reason" they looked taken aback by my harsh words, I didn't mean to sound so rude, but it just came out, like word vomit; Jazz was the first to speak, sounding angry;

"No reason? HE TRIED TO RAPE YOU BELLA, we were helping!" why did I have to speak; why couldn't I have been silent, I narrowed my eyes; I didn't want to argue with them; it was the opposite of what I needed right now.

"Exactly he TRIED to, it doesn't mean he succeeded, if he did I'm probably be topping myself at this point, I'm fine and I know you were trying to help but its making everything worse, you're really good friends but this _keeping me protected from the big bad world_ is getting stupid" I threw the pillow on the sofa and ran to my room, they didn't need to see me cry anymore, I'm surprised I could still cry, I was sure I cried every bit of water out of my body;

I could hear someone knocking my door; I wiped the tears from my eyes and watched as the door opened slowly;

"Love... Can I come in?" Edwards head popped into the room and half smiled, I lifted myself up from the bed and sat on the edge, shrugging at his question;

"If you want" he knelt down in front of me and stroked the side of my face, looking at me with such love and compassion;

"We didn't think about what this would've done for you, I'm sorry, we just thought you'd want him to hurt the way he hurt you" I grabbed his hand that was holding my face and leaned into it gently; enjoying the warmth of hid hand, his touch on my cheek;

"Your all doing great, except for earlier, just promise me all of you won't go near him again, I know what he said and I accept he's crazy and scares the crap out of me, but I won't let him hurt my friends"

I didn't want them hurt or getting in trouble; not because of this, it wasn't worth it, it meant that he would win; I couldn't let that happen; they were my friends, my family; I wanted to keep them protected like they were doing with me.

"None of us will ever let him near you again, we just want you to be happy again, I want you to be the old Bella who yelled at me and always called me a diva or... prickward, I miss you" I felt a smile forming on my lips; I thought about all the times I called him insulting names, how I called him a drama queen or diva, he was right; I wasn't the old me anymore; but I felt the need to feel happy; excited at the fact he liked the old me, how he missed me.

"Your so nice to me Edward, I don't get why you are" he half laughed and got closer to me, I could feel his hot breath fanning my face, the smell of peppermint hitting my face;

"I thought it was obvious, I care about you a lot, I always have, that's why I was such a jack ass I kind of thought you liked arrogant pricks, I was way off; but I couldn't just become nice all of a sudden, especially if you rejected me"

"I guess you turned out alright though, I'm starting to really care for you and I have to admit it scares me."

I leant down slowly and kissed him gently; it felt better than the first time an instant connection flew through my body; his lips were so soft and warm, his arms being around me felt as if we were in a safe bubble that no one could break.

He broke our kiss, bringing his forehead to mine as he tried to control his breathing, I didn't want him to stop, I wanted more; but he just knelt there, motionless.

"There's something I need to tell you Bella... It's about Alice" I lifted my head, cocking it to one side; Alice? I completely forgot, she wanted to speak to me in hospital that day, I hadn't seen her since; what did he need to tell me, was something wrong?

"What about Alice?" before he could say another word Alice knocked on the open door, looking shy and awkward as she seen Edward in front of me;

"Hi Bella, can I talk to you, in private?" Edward's face turned cold and angry, what was he doing? She was his sister, I'm sure it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Alice, why don't you just leave, you've done enough" I sat here confused, what had she done wrong, why can't someone tell me what's going on.

"Edward, don't talk to her like that, what has she done that's so bad?" he looked shocked at my tone; but I was becoming impatient;

"I was just about to tell you" he looked nervous, as though he wanted to tell me instead; to explain it better; what did he know that I didn't?

"Edward why don't you let me tell her instead of you BUTTING in, why do you always have to be so obsessed? Do you want me to tell her what your plan was before she started _falling_ for you?"

Now I was confused, what were they talking about? Was she threatening him, I was getting angry now, how could they be so secretive;

"Okay can you both explain this stuff to me?" they both were glaring at each other and this was getting nowhere!

"HEY! I just want answers here" they shook their heads, both wanting to talk to me first; but because Alice asked to speak with me first, I decided to hear her out;

"Okay, Alice how about you go first? Edward I'll call you back after" he looked defeated, as if I punched him in the gut; but he couldn't do anything to change my mind, he simply nodded, kissing my forehead before he got up and closed the door.

"What's wrong Alice?" she stood statically as I asked, looking nervous to talk to me;

"I've missed you Bella, I'm so sorry I haven't been around, I just felt like you were falling for Jasper, but I heard that night it wasn't Jazz you liked" I sat there puzzled, what was she going on about, how could she think I was falling for Jasper? We were just friends, she knew that; everyone did... didn't they?

"What do you mean?" she started to cry heavily, I felt awkward sitting there, watching as she sobbed her heart out, what was I meant to do, run up and hug her, comfort her before she told me everything; she spoke a few words between each sob; trying to make sense;

"I was so angry... that you wanted him - I wanted revenge..."

I waited for her to finish, wanting to know the rest; what did she mean revenge? What had I done that was so bad?

"I told Mike you wanted to a one night stand... and you were going to meet him in the girl's bathroom but you were going to pretend that you knew nothing about it"

I felt my heart beating faster, rage filling my body; what was she trying to say, that she caused this, that she tricked Mike?

"But then I overheard Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett talking about how much you liked Edward, and I went to help but I knew it was too late"

I sat there in shock, thinking about everything she just said, that's why she looked guilty, that's why she wanted to speak in private; how could she do that to me, her best friend?

"Please say something Bella" what was I meant to say, that I forgave her, that I understood why she done it; I really didn't, even if I was hurt by something like that I could never do it;

"Did you think so little of me that I would go after someone you liked, and then tried to get me BACK for something I NEVER DID?"

She winced at my tone, scared at what I might do; I was so irritated, so annoyed that I couldn't stop myself from screaming at her;

"You basically told Mike it was okay to RAPE ME ALICE! What the hell! I would've NEVER done that to you, we were like sisters!"

She shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes quickly, trying to walk closer to me, but I stood back, clenching my fists as if I was ready to fight;

"I'M SO SORRY! I told Edward as soon as he found you, he was furious but he didn't want to tell you until you were better" my eyes went from fury to pain in those few seconds; Edward knew? All this time, he knew; no wonder he looked guilty, he didn't tell me, I should've been told, I had every right to know.

"I thought we were friends" my voice cracked slightly as I started feeling the tears escaping; I couldn't believe this was happening, this couldn't be true, it had to be a nightmare; all of it!

"WE ARE, Bella please, I'm sorry, just forgive me or get me back for it, I understand" I glared at her through my blurred vision; how dare she say that, does she think that little of me?

"GET YOU BACK! Even though I hate you right now I'd never get revenge, I wouldn't even do that to Tanya who I hate with a passion!" I burst out crying, louder than before; I couldn't help it, it was just forcing its way out of my body; showing how I truly felt... betrayed;

"Just... Leave Alice, I can't deal with this right now" she sniffled, trying to take another step towards me; I threw my hand in the air; pointing to the door;

"GO!" she left slowly, unable to control her tears; I ran to the door and slammed it shut; locking it, I didn't want to be near anyone after that.

For once, I was glad I was alone.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

I ignored the knocking and the panicked voice of Edward asking me to open the door, I just sat there thinking to myself, how I realised friendship meant nothing to some people, that life was all about making mistakes and growing apart from people due to change.

Alice doing this to me was proof that our friendship which _made me feel like I had an amazing sister more than anything_ had ended with a loud and hurtful bang; I guess it was a dramatic ending to our story.

Edward knowing about it made me question why he was still here, I knew he cared for me but after him keeping this a secret from me, how could I know that I could trust him?

His family obviously is important to him but this was information that couldn't be kept secret, not for anything. If I knew something like that I knew I would've told the person straight away, knowing it would hurt them; but anyone could admit that it would've been less painful knowing than wondering why Mike turned the way he did.

Now I couldn't help but think the worst, did the others know, or were they just as clueless as me? If they all knew about it, the thought of them not telling me and pretending everything was alright was sickening. I needed to know so badly but I refused to get up, I was a coward, too scared to face any of them. I needed answers, and I needed them soon!

I closed my eyes, blocking out the sounds that swam around me, wanting peace and quiet for just a few more minutes;

_I was back in the meadow, this time I felt like something was wrong, that something terrible was going to happen, I looked around to see if I was alone, but between the gaps of every few trees there were people, just staring at me with blurred faces, 'H-hello? Who are you?' _

'_I'm not sorry, you deserved what you got' I turned round and saw Alice floating above me with a scowl on her face 'You stole my jasper away from me' _

_Why was she saying that, why couldn't she just believe me, believe I didn't want Jasper like that, he was a friend... nothing more._

'_What? You tricked someone into trying to rape me!' she shrugged casually, not caring about my feelings;_

"_Because of what you did, you're a dirty little SLUT" as she said that word, it echoed in my mind, reminding me of Mike's hurtful words_

"_She's right, I always knew you wanted me, instead of admitting you made me try and show you and you throw it back in my face' Mike suddenly appeared, smirking evilly, I grabbed my hair tightly, feeling the need to scream; _

'_GO AWAY' I closed my eyes whispering to myself to wake the hell up, I took a few breaths counted to five and opened my eyes, I regretted that thought immediately; the meadow now looked dead; the trees were burned away and the grass was swapped with dry land that was cracking dramatically; the others just stood there watching me as they were before. Not saying anything until one stepped forward, it was Emmett._

'_I wish you weren't my sister, everything would've been so much easier' I shook my head, feeling worse now more than ever; how could he say that to me, I didn't think it was even possible; not even in my worst nightmares; _

'_Emmett? Please you don't mean that' he laughed loudly, causing me to coil back in fear_

'_We all knew yano, about Alice, we didn't care, and we wanted you to suffer!' All of a sudden my chest started to hurt badly, I looked down and noticed it was bleeding, all the blurry faces started to laugh and Edward appeared in front of me, smirking in amusement as he enjoyed my pain; what was happening to me?_

'_Oh look, we broke her heart, poor, poor Bella... but love, it's not the only thing that we're going to break.' _

_They all charged at me as I screamed out in pain..._

Screaming as loud as I could I sat up, quickly looking around the room as I clung to my chest. The room was empty and my chest wasn't bleeding, but I was crying so hard and sweating with fear. What a horrible nightmare, how could a dream feel so real?

BANG, BANG, BANG, I screamed once again and crawled quickly towards the end of my bed, looking for the first thing I could grab hold of;

'BELLA IT'S EMMETT! OPEN THE DOOR, ARE YOU HURT?' I sat thinking about what he said in my dream, wondering if he would really think something like that.

I felt ill, hurt and alone; it was so real, so vivid; it couldn't be lies, it had to be the truth; I could help but whimper,

"L-leave me alone Emmett" he continued to bang on the door; ignoring my request, I knew he was stubborn like me but this was beyond a joke; I just wanted him to go away;

'Please Bella... just, just open the door, we can talk, I need to see if you're alright'

"IM FINE! Just go away! ALL OF YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE" as I screamed those words it became very silent; I was waiting for him to knock the door down and call me stupid for believing my dream, but I heard his footsteps as he walked away from the door.

He done what I asked but I felt hurt, I was pained thinking that I made him upset about this, it wasn't his fault. It was Alice, and I couldn't do anything to stop the feeling of betrayal, the disloyalty.

I slowly dragged myself of the floor and went to the bathroom to get cleaned up, the mirror was definitely not my friend today, my hair was all over the place, looking like a birds nest; my make up was EVERYWHERE, the mascara that ran down my cheeks, my blood shot eyes; the paleness of my skin as I touched the bags under my eyes; I just looked drained.

I took my time, just having a moment where I didn't have to think about anything, enjoying the shower that clouded my thoughts; making me have silence for the first time; I slowly got dressed into my favourite sweats, wanting to feel comfortable;

I made my way downstairs quietly so they wouldn't know I came out of my room just yet, I could hear soft voices coming from the lounge so I tip toed closely to the door and listened carefully, wanting to know what they were saying; would it be about me, about Alice?

"She doesn't deserve this, I just want to go up there and make everything okay" I felt myself feeling guilty, I shouldn't have upset Emmett, he was only trying to help; he sounded so hurt, so pained that I yelled at him;

"I know Emmett but she's not ready to talk to anyone, I can't believe Alice would do that to her, after everything Bellas done for her she throws it in her face" the anger in Rosalie's voice was evident, the venom that oozed out as she said Alice's name,

"At least she has you baby" I heard his chair scrape against the floor, probably going over to hug Rose as he spoke.

"I just want to be her friend now and help her through this; god knows what's going round in her head" the thoughts in my mind would be something she'd cringe at, the memory of everything that's happened, the thoughts of Alice tricking Mike; it was all there, screaming at me, not letting me have a moments peace;

"I just hope she doesn't think we knew about it, she would hate us forever" I smiled softly, feeling happier that I knew they had no clue about anything that was going on;

"I doubt she thinks that Em, she's doesn't know how to handle it all yet, give her time." And she was right, I needed time to get over this; I would eventually but I just had to get through this, a day at a time;

After hearing their private conversation I couldn't help but feel better, at least they didn't know about what Alice had done; they were the only two besides Jasper that I felt I could trust.

I sneak into the kitchen and grab the first thing I find; I didn't realise how hungry I was until I smelt something amazing, chocolate chip muffins were sitting on the bench, obviously just made; I grabbed one and noticed a note underneath the bowl.

Emmett. These are for you and Bella,

Alice admitted to us what she done, we're so deeply sorry for the hurt that Bella's felt due to Alice, I hope she can forgive us for being terrible parent's, we should've done something sooner, we love you both and hope you still want to come see us when you're ready, you're like children to us and we both miss you dearly.

Esme & Carlisle x

Tears formed in my eyes as I read the note; they were the nicest people on the planet and I loved them so much, in all honesty they were like second parents to me, and I truthfully did miss them, I knew that once I felt confident enough I would have to go see them.

"Bella" I turned round slowly and saw Rosalie at the kitchen door, smiling gently as she noticed the piece of paper I was holding;

"Hey Rose" she ran over to be and hugged me tightly, I could hear her silently crying, probably trying to hide it from me, but she wasn't that good of an actress; I hugged her back, resting my head on her shoulders as she tried to calm down;

"I'm so sorry, we didn't know about Alice I swear! If we did we would've told you straight away" I smiled, why did I ever doubt them? They were great friends; I still don't understand how I deserved them

"I know I overheard you two talking, now stop hugging me and stuff your face with these muffins so I feel less guilty for eating them all" we both laughed and Emmett made his way in slowly.

"Can you forgive me sis?" I just looked at him with confusion as he spoke quietly, almost whispering;

"Emmett what are you on about?" he looked at Rose, she looked just as confused as I felt; he sighed softly and walked towards me as he spoke;

"For not being a good brother, I should've been there for you and I let you down" I got up and gave him a big hug, not wanting him to think something that was so far from being the truth,

"Emmett you're the best brother a girl could ask for, your amazing, kind and full of love, please don't think you've let me down, you've made me feel like we're the best of friends, like I can be safe again; so please just shut up" he gave his goofy smile and gave me one more hug, laughing at my response;

"Edward called; he's been wanting to speak to you since the whole Alice thing" I stared at the floor, shocked at the direction this conversation has went; I sat there silently, eating the last of my muffin, he carried on when he realised I wasn't going to speak, I really didn't know what to say;

"He told me to tell you he's sorry, but he didn't tell me why... Did he hurt you or something? If he did I swear to god I'll kill him" I rolled my eyes dramatically; I loved how protective he was of me;

"He hasn't hurt me Emmett, at least not yet, Alice never told me what he done, but I still need to know, I'm just not ready to see him, I'm still upset about it all" he nodded in understanding, but I could tell he was just as curious as me, he wanted to know so he could think of something suitable to punish him; it made me laugh more than anything.

"What's happening with school?" I decided to change the subject quickly, not wanting our little talk to be depressing;

"They told us that school's closed for the rest of the week because they need to do 'renovations' or something, so won't be back until Monday" Rosalie shrugged, feeling happy that we had another few days off school; to be honest I was glad of the break;

"Wow a long weekend then, I wonder what they'll do?" we all looked at each other, curious about what the punishment would be for fighting; I hoped nothing serious, I couldn't let them get punished for this.

"Beats me, but do you want to go shopping with me Rose & Jazz?" I took a minute to think about it, shopping sounded fun but I'm sure I wouldn't be a positive person to take, I'd end up seeing someone and running away;

"I don't want to be a Debbie downer on you guys" Rose rolled her eyes, as she put her arm around my shoulders, encouraging me to smile;

"Babe you won't be, and you're going! I've been stuck with those two sulking, I need a girl to help me out here!" only she could find a reason like that to make me go; I nodded happily and admitted defeat; I guess I'm going.

We decided to meet Jasper at the mall and then head out shopping afterwards, when we got there he just ran and grabbed me, swinging me round with me laughing and yelling at him to let me down.

"I've missed you Bella" he kissed my cheek causing me to blush a deep shade of red; I took his hand and squeezed it tight

"You too Jazz" he seemed pleased that I missed him, I really did; even if it was only a few hours before I last seen him.

"Listen Bells, I didn't know about Alice, if I didn't I would've told you, I had no idea she liked me that much, it's all my fault" for fucks sake, I'm getting sick of this blame game, it was getting beyond a joke; none of them should feel guilty;

"Enough Jazz, it's not your fault, it's _hers_, she thought I wanted you and she got jealous and crazy, you had nothing to do with it okay?" he didn't look like he agreed but at least he pretended, making me smirk as he acted as if he was happy;

"Alright, but you seriously don't want me?" I playfully hit him on the arm, laughing at his joke; I think secretly he was being serious but I played it off;

"No, I really want you Jasper, I'm madly in love with you, I want to fuck you right now and have all your children; how about it?" he burst out laughing, shaking his head at me as he put his arm around me, he brought his head down to my ear, whispering with a deep tone coming through his voice;

"I knew it" I shivered with pleasure as I felt his warm breath travel down my neck; we all started laughing and for once I was actually having fun;

We went to my favourite diner in town and ordered all our favourites, and shockingly most of the menu was Emmett's favourites;

"Emmett you do realise you're paying for all of this" he just looked at all the food that was placed in front of him, looking hungry and determined;

"So is Jazz so it's okay" Jazz smirked, then widened his eyes as the last of Emmett's food arrived;

"I am?" Emmett grinned cheekily while filling his mouth with food; I cringed slightly as he spoke, spluttering parts of his food over the table;

"Yup!" I just stared at the plates of food appearing on our table; even more than I thought was possible;

"I don't think I could eat half this stuff guys, why did you order so much" Rose looked just as shocked but laughed it off, trying to find her plate in the middle of it all;

"Because I'm hungry sis!" how can someone be this hungry? It was impossible;

"Then you can eat the left over's" he looked up, I grin as he raised his eyebrow; smiling as he picked up another forkful;

"Is that a challenge" I shrug casually, leaning back in my chair as if ready to watch this train wreck;

"I believe it is" as on cue he grabbed all the food he could and threw it in his mouth, trying to eat all of it quickly;

Watching Emmett eat all that food was scary, sickening and creepy; I'd never seen him eat that much in my life and the worst thing about it was that he was still hungry.

"Em that was outrageous, I definitely won't be sleeping with you tonight after eating all that food" I laughed as Rose told him off, telling him how immature he was for eating everything on that table... even our food;

"But Rosie! It was a challenge, Sis back me up here?" I laughed backing away slowly,

"No way, you didn't have to accept the challenge" he looked like a child at this point, slamming his foot on the floor and folding his arms across his chest;

"Meanie" did he seriously just say that, what age was he? What a child.

"What are you? Five" he narrowed his eyes, looking as if he was being punished;

"Whatever." Emmett being in a mood was hilarious, he would just stand there with a childlike face on and his arms folded like he didn't get his own way, the only way to make him happy is to make funny faces at him which is exactly what I did and he started to look away trying not to smile back.

Rosalie's face suddenly became cold, looking pissed off at something; what was wrong with her?

"Let's go guys" what? Why did she want to leave, I was having fun, I didn't want to leave just yet;

"What? Why, we were having fun?" her eyes flickered straight passed me and I turned around to see The Cullen's sitting at a table having lunch, they looked awful, Esme & Carlisle were talking to each other with sad looks on their faces while Edward was on the opposite side of the table to Alice, who basically looked depressed and disheartened.

"Yeah maybe you're right let's go" Jasper grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the door; we nearly escaped until I heard the quiet voice of Esme sounding shocked at my presence;

"Bella Sweetheart?" I just gave her a small smile which evaporated immediately when I saw them all staring at me with such sadness and pity.

"Hi, Esme, how are you?" she got up and gave me a hug, she felt so warm and cosy, she was always one of my favourite people to talk to;

"Sweetie I'm fine, I should be asking you. Did you get my muffin basket?" I smiled, remembering how delicious they were;

"Yes, we ate all off them; they were amazing, you'll have to give me the recipe" she looked so pleased, she must've made them to help cheer me up; it broke my heart not seeing her more often

"We've missed you so much; you'll have to come visit us." Could I? If I did I knew they'd be there, watching me, trying to talk to me; I don't think I could do it;

"I'll try Esme" she hugged me once more and smiled softly; looking towards Carlisle;

"Good girl, I realise you're all leaving so I'll let you be, but please call us, even if it's just to hear your voice" I could hear the sadness coming through her voice and I couldn't help but frown, she sounded so hurt, disappointed by what Alice had done;

"I will, I've missed you both terribly" I gave her a small smile as I looked towards Carlisle

"It was nice to see you again Carlisle" he raised his glass and smiled delicately, letting me know he was happy to see me;

"You too sweetheart; and you can visit me in the hospital anytime" I agreed and stood there for a few minutes, feeling awkward as Edward and Alice sat there staring at me; I said a quick goodbye and headed for the doors; wanting to get home as soon as possible;

I cuddled into Jasper as we sat and watched scary movies; it was a great day, despite the awkwardness earlier on in the diner; but I just felt relaxed.

We decided on a horror film about ghosts, as we watched the next part of the movie where the ghost suddenly screamed into the screen, the phone started ringing and it made us all jump, I shook my head, laughing at Emmett's scream being the loudest; he was such a girl sometimes;

"I'll get it" I jumped up and ran to the phone and checked the caller id 'EDWARD CULLEN' showed up and I didn't know whether to answer or not, the phone stopped ringing and I didn't know what to think. I knew he wanted to speak to me, but I didn't need any drama to ruin my day.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Emmett was obviously getting sick of the phone calls; he's rang about 12 times since the movie started;

"No, I'm not ready to talk to him; I know I'll have to Monday so he can wait" Rose snuggled into Emmett as he smirked; looking between me and Jazz,

"Well next time I'm answering and telling him you're busy with jasper" my eyes went wide; thinking about how that could make everything worse; god knows what Edward would do... and Alice; it made me shudder;

"Don't. You. Dare! There has been enough drama about us 2 with Alice, and look how THAT turned out" he looked guilty, forgetting about what happened; I rolled my eyes, as Rose slapped the back of his head, causing him to yell out in pain;

"Sorry sis, I kind of forgot" I smiled widely at him, giving him a cheeky wink as I heard Jasper chuckle behind me;

"Its fine, I know you were joking, I'm actually pretty tired, I think I'll just head to bed, but thanks for the great day guys, I really did have a good time"

I hugged each of them, giving them all a small kiss on the cheek before I gradually headed upstairs to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Last night was one of the only nights in the past few days that I've felt great. I woke up relaxed yet alert, knowing there was less drama in my life now that people have been permanently cut out of it.

Spending most of my time shopping with Rose or playing basketball with the guy's really made me feel at home again, I missed just having fun with my friend's; the people who wouldn't stab me in the back. Edward was still calling, but I decided to wait it out until Monday morning. Everything now and again when I was alone I thought about what Alice said

_"Do you want me to tell her what your plan was before she started 'falling' for you?" _I still wanted answers about that. I really doubt I'd get them from Edward, so I guess I'll eventually have to talk to Alice which I wasn't looking forward to at all.

Sunday was a really good day, sitting by the pool, listening to music and hanging out with the people that matter, what could be better? Jazz & Emmett were busy having swimming races, seeing who could get to the other end of the pool first. I don't understand men, needing to prove whose better. While they were doing that Rose and I were sitting at the edge just kicking our feet in the water.

"What a way to end the long weekend, tomorrow will be interesting don't you think" I cringed at the thought; I hope it wasn't interesting at all.

"I know, I wish we had more days off though, not looking forward to tomorrow." Her face softened realising I wouldn't enjoy it at all;

"I know, but don't worry we won't let Mike anywhere near you" she had it all wrong, I didn't care about Mike, I was basically putting that to the back of my mind;

"It's not that, I don't care about Mike anymore, I feel sorry for him being tricked. It's the whole Alice thing and with Edward trying to talk to me, I'm a bit nervous"

"He obviously wants to clear the air, he really likes you Bells, give him a chance" I rolled my eyes, what had got into her, I knew she wanted me to give him a chance once before but that soon turned into a debated thought;

"You've changed your tune" Rose just shrugged not really bothered by it; she must've just changed her mind about everything;

"Life's too short, live for the moment and not the future, it'll be worth it in the long run, but enough of that, remember Jazz is taking you to school tomorrow" I nodded, I'm glad she changed the subject; I don't think I could talk about Edward much more without wanting to run over to his and speak to him;

"So are you not interested in Jazz then?" I looked towards her confused, wondering where that question came from; was she not just telling me to give Edward a chance?

"What do you mean?" she smiled, showing hints of amusement on her face;

"Everyone knows he likes you sweetie, but I'm guessing your more Team Edward than Team Jasper?" I should've known people would assume this, we were really close now, I don't know how it happened but he was a good friend; I'd never do anything to jeopardise that

"Jasper doesn't like me in that way anymore, we sorted it, and he's one of my best friends; like a brother to me. It would just be weird"

It was near the end of the night and I was dreading school in the morning; having Jasper being close to me made me more confident, but I knew I'd have to speak with them alone. I felt sorry for Jasper, after everything he still liked me but I only cared for him as a friend, I hated the fact Edward stole my heart, because whatever he did must've been bad if Alice was threatening him with it.

As I cuddled up with Jasper again, we were now watching a comedy; Rose & Emmett headed to bed early, which I didn't need to know to be honest; but now we had to stay up for a few hours until they went to sleep.

The past few days, Jaspers just stayed over at ours, my dad didn't mind seeing as though he thought Jasper was a pretty good guy; to be honest he's basically moved in like Rosalie, he stays in the spare room opposite mine so we always stay up late and hang out.

"Tell me again why we're watching Remember Me?" Jazz moaned, not liking that we were watching my favourite movie... AGAIN

"Jazz, it's a good movie, and the ending's so sad, I love it" it was one of my favourite purchases; I couldn't stop watching this movie; I think I made everyone hate it, none of them ever wanted to watch it; but it was my turn to pick the movie so I chose this.

"Whatever you say, just don't leave tear marks on my shirt... again" I punched him playfully, I was definitely going to ruin his shirt now;

"For that I'm snuggling in closer" I got even closer to him, putting my face closer to his chest; he sighed loudly and chuckled;

"You're a demon Bells" I gave the most shocked look on my face while trying not to laugh; pretending to be hurt by his joke;

"No I'm an angel with horns holding the halo up, didn't you know?" he rolled his eyes and smiled

"Yeah like I said, demon"

"You're worse than me, so beware" he raised his eyebrow, amused by my threat;

"If I'm worse why would I beware" damn, he had a point; I didn't really think that through; I simply shrugged and smirked at him; trying to come up with something

"Cos, I'm so much cooler" he barked out a laugh, even I had to laugh at that;

"You're deluded, I'm definitely cooler" I snorted noisily, he was definitely not cooler than me, it was fact.

"In your dreams" he moved slightly so he could look at me with an evil smirk

"Really? Well usually in my dreams I'm tickling you" I suddenly felt nervous, tickles were the one thing I detested the most; the fact that you were powerless as someone forced you to laugh; I narrowed my eyes at him, speaking so low that it was almost a whisper;

"You wouldn't dare" he lifted himself up a bit, as though he was getting ready to pounce; I gulped loudly; watching his hands move towards me;

"Oh but I would" he grabbed my sides, ticking me with force; I screamed with laughter; he tickled me so much I was gasping for breath.

"J-Jass-perr STOP! I c-cant take any-mmore! PLEASE!" We ended up rolling off the couch and landing on the floor with a big thud, laughing our heads off.

"I told you to stop" he just grinned cheekily, lust appearing in his eyes; I couldn't help but smile as he below of me; it felt weird, but right;

"Well maybe it's my turn now" as I finished speaking the room fell silent; we just lay there, staring at each other, I noticed he kept looking at my lips then moving up to my eyes.

I don't know what came over but I parted my lips slightly and leant in towards him, kissing him gently, but gaining in strength until I found myself wrapped up in him, he was an incredible kisser, the way his lips moulded into mine, the warmth of his body radiated into mine.

The kissing deepened yet I didn't want to stop, I felt an urge to keep kissing him. He rolled us over so I was underneath him, we stopped kissing for a moment while he took his shirt off; saying that his body was amazing, would be an UN-DER-STATE-MENT!

His six pack was very visible and his muscles were tensing and he held me closer to him, he started moving towards my neck, nipping and sucking, every second I was wanting more as I moaned in pleasure;

He was just about to undo his belt when I realized one thing, was I really going to lose my virginity to Jasper, my Best Friend? I never thought he would be the one to take it; he's probably had a lot of experience compared to me but after thinking THAT I now felt nauseous, would I be any good? He'll probably end up thinking I was shit and ditch me completely, not wanting it to be awkward; he soon noticed my face getting paler, he leant up so he was hovering over me, looking nervous;

"Bells are you alright?" I blinked at him, while he waited for an answer, he looked more worried by the minute, and the first thing that comes out of my mouth had to be 4 stupid words

"I can't do this" I started tearing up I felt so embarrassed; I wanted to do it, but I cared about our friendship more; I couldn't lose him;

"Bella, it's alright, if your not ready I understand" he had to be the kindest guy I've ever met, he was so sweet, he wasn't going to force me to do anything I wasn't ready for;

"I'm so sorry" he shook his head quickly, "don't apologize, its fine, it's your choice and I care about you okay, whenever you're ready I'll be here." We both got up and I hugged him tightly.

"I'm just going to head to bed, good night Jazz" I kissed him on the forehead, he cupped my face and kissed me tenderly on the lips; leaving me lost for words;

"Night Bells" Tomorrow will definitely be interesting.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

My alarm went off and I slapped a little bit too hard today, I didn't want to wake up until after school ended, but I knew that wouldn't happen.

I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for school, I needed to pretend I was confident, so I wore my best pair of dark skinny jeans with iron fist heels, my favourite avenged sevenfold band shirt and a leather jacket which I absolutely ADORED!

I sat brushing the loose curls in my hair thinking about what would happen today, would Alice cause more problems, if she did should I tell her about last night? No, I wouldn't lower myself to her level.

I made my way downstairs to find everyone already awake: it must have been a parallel world or something because I'm usually waiting on these people to wake up, In my head I was hoping it wasn't awkward between me and Jazz, if I didn't make it awkward it would be normal right? I decided to see if I could convince them of my confident mood so I strutted in with the biggest smile I could make and spoke calmly and cheery

"Morning guy's, who wants coffee," they all looked at each other with confused faces

"Just me then" I walked to the coffee machine and poured myself a cup listening to the shuffling behind me, Jazz was first to speak

"Bells. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Jazz; I'm just thinking positive today, it's better than moping" Rose smiled pleased with my sudden change in mood;

"Exactly babe, glad your confident about today" I winked at her cheekily as she sat there chuckling to herself;

"Thanks Rose" hugging me she replied with something I was waiting for her to say

"Make sure to be extra confident around those idiots today"Emmett rolled his eyes involving himself in the conversation;

"Rosie baby, Edwards not an idiot... yet, we don't know what he's done" Rose strutted towards me and put her arm around my shoulder

"Well, we will be finding out today after school, won't we babe" she tapped my shoulder then nudged my side with her elbow

"Of course, I don't keep secrets from you guys and vice versa" they all gave a big smile and laughed slowly, Rose was first to speak "

See! Now we're going to be late so hurry up! Chop Chop!"

Jazz walked up to me with a guilty look on his face, I knew he would unintentionally make this awkward

"Bell's, I'm really sorry about last night" I stopped him quickly, not wanting to make this any more awkward;

"Jazz, I kissed you remember? You understood I wasn't ready so there's no problem here, you were great, thank you" I hugged him tightly and he returned the hug happily;

"As long as you know I'll always be here Bella... Always" knowing this made me happy, but I knew I was confused, the kiss was amazing but when I woke up, I felt nothing but a brotherly love, which makes this whole situation very creepy.

"C'mon Jazz we're going to be late."

We rushed to the car and headed to school. The car park was packed with student's trying to drag out the time left before class started and of course ALL of the football player's and cheerleader's where out, which sucked because that meant we had to go over there and _mingle_ with the air head bimbos who were trying to get the attention of Edward... did that mean I was like all those other cheerleaders, fighting for his attention? I officially SUCKED to a very high standard;

"MCCARTHY JUNIOR, COME OVER HERE SIS" there he goes again, yelling my wee nickname I haven't heard in a while, I missed it yet hated it, all at the same time. Is it possible to do that?

Everyone turned and waved at me to come over, Jasper put his arm around me, squeezed tightly whispering in my ear

"Remember, Confident." I smiled up at him and realised he was right. Confidence is the key, I took a deep breath and walked over with Jazz, noticing Edwards scowl at Jasper made me feel uneasy but it didn't show on my face.

"Hey guys" they all replied with a 'hey McCarthy' or a 'hey Bella' Tanya didn't say anything and just looked at her nails, and flipping her hair, obviously trying to look sexy, which she didn't succeed in I must say. She noticed me looking at her with a funny look on my face and decided to annoy me I'm guessing.

"So Bella, are you and like Jasper going out now? You seem pretty like cosy together" everyone stopped talking and started listening, she smirked knowing everyone was paying attention to her, so that was her plan all along, this girl really needed a life!

"What's it to you? We're friends, obviously you can't have male friends without sleeping with them, but that doesn't mean any other girl can't do that." Some people sniggered but the others just waited for Tanya's reaction, she was starting to look pretty mad, my only thought at this point was _SCORE _

Tanya just started smirking evilly, as if she had something smart to say;

"Well at least I'm not like a little virgin whose to frigid to be with anyone" I rolled my eyes, who cared if I was a virgin? She made it sound like a bad thing,

"Just because I don't fuck every guy on the football team, baseball team, basketball team and god knows what other team, doesn't mean I'm a virgin, it means I respect myself in a way you never could" I smiled and started walking off, but I turned back slightly and said my final piece

"Oh and Tanya! Me being reserved must be a good thing, seeing as the people your wanting to add to your list want me and not you" her face turned furious and it looked like she was ready to attack me, but everyone was too busy laughing or acting like children saying 'ooooohh!' to let her have time to get close to me, she was embarrassed and she knew it.

Classes dragged in, but I was glad, I was hoping to avoid Edward forever or hoping that there would be enough drama today to keep him from talking to me. The bell finally went for lunch and everyone rushed to the cafeteria while I was just slowly moving along, trying to take as much time as I could. Until I noticed Tanya by my locker with slut one and slut two by her side. I rolled my eyes and coughed loudly to let her know I arrived

"Is something wrong Tanya?" she still looked absolutely furious, I must've really upset her, which means I can tick off my 'Ways to annoy Tanya' list. CHECK!

"IS SOMETHING WRONG? OF COURSE THERE IS SOMETHING LIKE FUCKING WRONG! You little... Bitch! You embarrassed me in front of Eddie!" I had to laugh at this! this was too comical.

"I embarrassed, you?" I had to say each word slowly and clearly and then continued with what I wanted to say; I wasn't going to let her stupid remarks get to me; ever.

"Tanya, you embarrass yourself, don't blame me for your lack of words and lack of assets to attract the boys" her little minions gasped and a lot of people stood by their lockers, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Listen here you little bitch" I interrupted her quickly, not wanting to hear what she had to say;

"You've already said that Tanya, get some new material" she scowled at me, looking redder by the second; this girl really needed something to take her mind off all this drama;

"SHUT UP MCCARTHY! I'm sick of you trying to get with MY GUYS, back off or ill have to MAKE you back off, OKAY!" I walked up right into her face and laughed,

"_Your guys?_ You have no chance of getting them ever again, they finally realised they could do a hell of a lot better, and that better happened to be me. So how about you back off or I'll knock you out with a single punch" she pushed me and grinned, realising she had a chance to hit me;

"I don't think so!" I decided to get bitchy; I'm going to play her at her own game, and win.

"You know what? I nearly forgot, I really wanted to discuss something interesting with you, all the times I heard you talk about Edwards kissing being amazing, I didn't believe it; thought you were exaggerating, but when he kissed me I realised you were right; he was amazing; especially when he was asking for more"

I gave her a final smirk, riddled with amusement; she charged towards me screaming, she knocked me to the ground and started throwing messy slaps and punches, is this really how she fights?

I rolled us over and started hitting her, ripping her fake hair extensions out of her head, making sure I was hitting her face were EVERYONE would see it. Tanya pushed me off her as we both got up, charging at each other and pulling each other's hair, screaming at the pain but trying to hurt the other person more.

All you could hear behind us was the chant of 'FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT'

The best chant I could hear was _my name_ being yelled; no one liked Tanya, and they definitely didn't like her winning fights, so how could I let all these people down? I started properly punching and kicking trying to get her to quit and to basically just cry.

"LEAVE EDDIE ALONE" was all she kept screaming at me. I pushed her onto the ground and pulled her hair towards me so she had to look me in the eye, speaking calmly I stared at her with an intense look

"Tanya, he IS NOT your Eddie, anyone can have him and that includes me, so back off and leave me alone, I don't care if you hate me or want to kill me, but if I EVER see you looking at me or talking about me, there WILL be hell. Do I make myself clear? If I want Edward I can have Edward so SHUT the FUCK UP!" she started crying, probably from the pain of her hair being pulled so rough. I let go of her hair and went to my locker to fix my hair and makeup; ignoring everyone's stares of shock.

Tanya slowly got up from where I left her and charged at me again screaming at me with her high pitched voice;

"NEVER! EDDIE IS MINE!" she pushed me into the lockers and cutting my skin with her cheap false nails. I bit her arm, _yes childish but I don't care, she was hurting me with her stupid death trap nails_. I punched her straight in the nose, blood gushing everywhere and her hands flew to her face screeching in pain

"BELLA!" I turned to see Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Edward standing there in disbelief. The face that shocked me the most was Edward; he looked angry at Tanya, but when his eyes met mine he couldn't help but look pained; I felt hurt by his glance, the thought of him worried about me made me think about him caring about me; but that could've been me imaging things.

Rose ran towards me and helped me up, brushing off the dirt that clung to my clothes;

"Come on babe, let's get you cleaned up" Emmett closed my locker and grabbed my things, helping Rose take me to the girls bathroom.

While Emmett and the guys stood outside the bathroom, there was an awkward silence in the bathroom while Rose cleaned me up, I decided to break the silence, wanting to get this over and done with;

"How much of that did you see?" she let out a sigh, muttering a small "enough" as the silence came back and I hated it.

As Rose grabbed a bandage from the first aid kit she started to speak; sounding happier as my appearance improved;

"I didn't know you had it in you to fight like that. It was amazing, just the way you hit her and kicked her." I gulped waiting for her to say the 'but' at the end of this speech; she just carried on speaking

"I really liked the little speech you gave as well. The _If I want Edward I can have Edward_, when you said it I noticed his face lit up. Jaspers went down slightly and Emmett and I were standing in awe at the confidence you had." I immediately cringed about the thought of them seeing the fight and what was saying to that overrated slut. How the hell was I going to explain this? She noticed my look of pain and started to worry

"Shit did I hurt you babe? Are you alright? Where does it hurt!" I sighed, wiping the tears or the drops of blood, _like I would know_? Off my face

"I'm fine, I just wish none of you seen it, I didn't want to hurt jasper, especially after last night."

Rose's face went from understanding what I was saying to complete confusion

"Wait, hold up, Last night? What happened last night?" SHIT! I never told her about last night. I wasn't planning on ever telling her and typically I blurt something out about it. IDIOT!

"Well, I kissed Jasper last night and it got a bit out of hand, nothing happened but I blurted to him I wasn't ready, he must think I'm such a bitch right now" I refused to look at her reaction so I remained looking at the floor

"YOU AND JASPER!" she yelled it so loud I knew the guys would hear it outside. Yet another thing to explain... Great

"How in the hell did that happen?" she whisper shouted as I hushed her, trying to keep her from screaming any more information out to the guys;

"We were carrying on a bit and it just happened. We sorted it but I think he might've thought I liked him more than a brother figure. Don't get me wrong he's an amazing kisser but it felt wrong when I woke up the next morning." She hugged me gently, trying not to hurt me

"Belly babe he'll understand, he's obviously not the one, don't blame yourself."

We finished up cleaning my injuries and headed towards the boys, who were getting yelled at for standing outside the girl's bathroom like stalkers; we giggled slightly but they heard and turned straight at us and cringed, I must've looked terrible. Emmett walked over and hugged me

"Great fighting sis, but I think I'll have to teach you a few things." I hugged back and whispered playfully "shut up Em"

Miss Hyndz, the teacher yelling at the boys coughed loudly to interrupt us

"Miss McCarthy, what has happened to you?" I replied quietly and tried to look like a little girl who was extremely distraught and alone

"I was in a fight, I'm okay but I think I just need to go home for now" her eyes turned soft and she slowly made her way to me while the guys and Rosalie looked in shock at my acting skills.

"Come on sweetheart, we'll take you to the school office and sort out this mess" I smiled gently whispering

"Thank you Miss Hyndz"

"Not a problem dear, now the rest of you back to class" Emmett interrupted her before anyone else could, trying to get out of going to class;

"Miss, she got a lift today, maybe I should take the day off and take her home and look after her? After all she is my sister" Miss Hyndz looked torn at what she should do so I decided to help him out

"I think if Emmett could take me home it would be great. I really need my big brother" she sighed loudly in defeat as I tried not to smile with triumph.

"Fine, the rest of you go to class, you two come with me."

After sitting in the nurses office for what felt like hours! Emmett & I were on our way home, we just sat in silence, I know he probably had a million questions but he was going to wait until I was ready; I was grateful;

I ran into the house and went straight to the kitchen, I had a big craving for cheese puffs at the minute and it needed to be conquered! Emmett followed me in and just sat there, staring at me as I devoured the packet;

"Emmett, what's wrong? You're not talking at all" he just looked at me confused;

"You need to speak with Edward, he wants to speak with you and you guys need to sort this out, I don't want you fighting in school with that slut, she's bringing you down to her level and I don't want you in trouble!" I was completely confused now

"Did Edward tell you something?" he sighed, looking pissed off;

"No, but I'm worried about you sis, you've changed since you and Alice started fighting, and I don't like it. I want the old Belly back." I smiled at the nickname I hadn't heard in years; I missed it; why did he think I've changed since Alice and I stopped speaking, I was the same Bella, wasn't I?

"I'll try Em, but it's hard to do when your friend fucked you over"

"I know you don't have to be friends with her; I hope you don't to be honest; but just act like the old you, the person who didn't care about anything." I hugged him tightly, feeling relieved by his honesty;

"I'll try"

We sat in playing video games and doing stuff we used to ALWAYS do. It was fun, and most of the time we were laughing at how Tanya fought. Those cuts will be there for a while. To be honest the thing I'm worried of the most is tomorrow, when everyone will notice me and will be talking about the fight.

Especially about how it ended up about Edward.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Starting the day as horrible would be an understatement. I woke up with the biggest headache known to man AND the bruises that stupid slut gave me from the stupid fight yesterday. Hopefully she looks worse than me, I know that's bitchy but it would be fun watching her be scared of me, it means she'll leave me the hell alone!

On the plus side the weather was really warm, the sun was shining and the heat was amazing, so wearing my cheerleading uniform to school with a high ponytail was the right thing to do. I was glad the only bruise she gave me were on my arms and a few on my neck.

Today was the day I was going to talk to Edward. About everything, I didn't care whether we were together or not_, liar_, but I needed to know where we stand, whether its enemies, friends or more...

Once people saw my car drive in they all watched as I got out to see the damage probably of yesterday's creative discussion with Tanya. Edward and the rest of them were standing by his car, not realising that I arrived yet, which sadly included a bubbly Tanya, but they were all ignoring her and trying to pretend she wasn't there while she tried to talk to Edward.

"Eddie, like why aren't you like talking to me" he tried his hardest to ignore her and he looked like he was ready to punch her lights out.

"Tanya, Fuck off will ya? No one wants you here" she looked hurt but shook it off

"But Eddie, it was that bitches fault, she said you weren't mine" he interrupted her, trying to hold in his anger as he spoke to her with venom;

"and she was right; I'd rather turn gay than touch you again, now leave." She turned around and I saw the degree of damage I done to her, her face was half swollen, she had a black eye that she tried to cover with consealer, she had a few cuts and bruises on her arms body, plus a bandage on her nose from where I punched her. She looked so defeated and she walked off crying. I nearly felt bad for her... NEARLY!

I walked up to them and hugged Rose from behind, pretending that none of them were looking at the marks on my face;

"Hello sunshine" they all looked at me and smiled, Rose was first to speak

"BABE! You look better than I thought you would, the bruises and cuts are hardly noticeable." I laughed at her honesty, only she would think that was a compliment.

"I'm better at putting make up on to be honest; her nose looked painful." Jasper butted in as he winked at me with a big grin on his face;

"which meant you done the job right" we all laughed, which didn't include Edward who didn't say anything he just stood there, watching me as if I would suddenly disappear; I ignored him as best as I could

"Thanks guys" as the bell went we all sighed or cursed, I really wasn't in the mood for school today

"Time for class, the day officially sucks" I groaned loudly and dragged myself to class; watching as everyone smiled at me while I entered the classroom;

Classes went by fast which I was surprised about because this day usually drags in, lunch was only an hour away and I was now in English learning about Charles dickens and the Great Expectations. I loved English, it always ended too quickly.

It was now time for lunch and I was actually starving, I grabbed my lunch from my locker and headed for the doors to go outside and enjoy the weather, when I bumped into Mike,

"Ouch! Watch where you're going ass-hole... Shit." I stood silent looking at him, feeling scared as I stood there frozen, but then I started noticing how shit he looked, his hair wasn't washed, he reeked of body odour too and he just looked drained of all colour. He spoke softly, trying not to cause anymore trouble

"Sorry I should've looked where I was going" I nodded, trying to find my words; shouldn't it be more difficult to speak to him, after what he done?

"Its fine, I actually wanted to speak with you, I know I shouldn't but I'd like to say that I forgive you Mike, I know what Alice said and she lied, I didn't like you in that way or anyway actually, I know she just egged you on." He looked shocked for a minute and then frowned

"You didn't like me?" I sighed, hoping he would get the hint;

"Not at all, to be quite honest you're not my type, Jessica really liked you but I doubt she will now, or maybe she does, I don't know, she's friends with Tanya so I don't talk to her." He thought for a minute then shyly smiled

"Thanks Bella, and I know it doesn't help but, sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you; I was drunk and thought you liked me."

"Its fine, I've got to go so see you around" I walked off and headed to lunch, feeling better after our little chat; at least that's one more person to forget about;

Everyone was just sitting and relaxing outside, either playing a game of football or just kicking the ball around. I plopped myself down beside Rose and smiled.

"Hey, any sign of a tan yet?" she laughed

"Yeah right. It may be sunny but no one will get a tan." I looked over and noticed Edward smiling as he kicked the ball, I hadn't seen him smile in a while, he saw me looking over and then his smiled turned more warm and kind, he yelled to the guys that he would be right back.

He started walking over and I knew now was a good time to talk. Edward gradually made it to me with a sheepish grin on his face and his hands in his pocket.

"Hey, do you maybe wanna go for a walk?" I nodded and blinked a few times, trying to decide whether this would be a good idea;

"Sure Edward, Rose I'll see you in class." I jumped up and grabbed my stuff and we walked off towards the cafeteria, which was like a ghost town because of the weather. We sat down and just sat there in silence, I didn't know what to say to start off the conversation. So he started us off

"Is it true what you said to Tanya?" I looked down at my lunch and spoke a little lower than what I usually would

"About what?" he sighed, but I really had no clue what he was on about; I said a lot of things to her;

"You know what, about how you could have me if you wanted me." oh, that... I really only said it to piss her off; I didn't really think it through;

"Yeah, any girl could" I slowly looked up and noticed the hurt in his eyes and the anger

"Actually, there's only one girl who could." We looked each other in the eyes and stayed silent for a moment; until I blurted out

"What was Alice going to tell me about you that was so bad?" he sat shocked by the admission; I wanted to know but he seemed as though he didn't want to tell me; I was sick of secrets, I just wanted to know.

"C'mon Edward, I want to know and you promised to tell me, I'm ready to hear it now. What were you going to do?" He looked up; debating whether to tell me

"I don't want to lose you" I rolled my eyes, it couldn't be that bad, but didn't I say that about Alice?

"Firstly you haven't gotten me yet to lose me and secondly I need to know, it's not fair keeping it from me and you know it!"

He pushed his chair out and got up, pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair and closing his eye's, whispering

"I'm sorry" after each breath. I got up and grabbed his arms, leaning towards him, trying to get him to look up at me;

"Open your eyes Edward" he slowly opened them and looked away,

"Edward look at me! Please tell me" he sighed and looked defeated and blurted it out in the simplest way he could

"I was going to drug you at the Halloween dance so you would sleep with me."

We stood there for a minute; I didn't know what to say, did he actually just say that? No he wouldn't have been THAT much of a dick, he wouldn't have hurt me like that; he couldn't;

He just watched me for a reaction, whispering to me as I stood in shock; not accepting what he said was true;

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realise how much I liked you until we kissed and then I just wanted you to like me, I wanted to prove the one way I could to show I liked you, but when I saw you that night I couldn't!" I listened and then with all my strength I let go of his arms and ran out of the room in tears, I could hear him running after me, I could hear him yelling my name to stop running, I could even see the people staring at me, wondering what was wrong. But I didn't care. I needed him to stay away from me.

I ran past rose and the others and they saw how upset I was but at that stage Edward caught up with me and grabbed my arms

"Bella PLEASE stop! I'm sorry, I know what I was going to do was wrong, I was a dick but I've changed I LOVE YOU!" I slapped him square across the face and heard the gasps of everyone.

"Stay the hell away from me Edward, just... leave me alone" I stormed off and headed for the girls bathroom, where Alice was sitting sulking in the corner. She looked up and saw the tears falling down my cheeks

"Bella?" I just closed my eyes and broke down, sitting at one of the stalls gasping for air. She got up slowly and crouched down beside me

"He told you didn't he, I'm so sorry, for _everything_" by the tone of her voice I knew she was being sincere, I knew she felt sympathy for me, out of all of this it was one of the friendships I never thought I'd lose, the one I always had since I was a child; at that moment I didn't care what she did, I felt hurt, on the brink of tears that were caused by her brother; I just grabbed her and hugged her tightly, just needing someone to hold me right now.

I soon calmed down and got up to fix my makeup, Alice just watched me, not sure if I was really okay, she probably thought I was insane;

"Bella... Are you going to be alright?" I fixed my eyeliner that was now smudged from my tears;

"I'll be fine, thanks for being with me. I'm okay now." She slowly walked towards me

"Bells, I'm honestly sorry for what I done, I shouldn't even be able to get the chance to talk to you but I really miss you, you were my best friend and I need you, even if it's not now, would you be able to forgive me eventually?" I turned to face her, seeing the pain and guilt that was all over her face.

"You really hurt me, and I was ready to hate you for the rest of your life. I know your truly sorry but I'm not ready to forgive you, maybe soon but not at this moment. Give me a bit more time alright?" she smiled, feeling happy about my answer; knowing there was hope for our friendship

"Okay, and for what its worth, me and Edward both don't deserve you" I sniffled quietly, wiping the last tear that fell from my eyes;

"Thanks Alice"

For the rest of the day I ignored the stares and whispers of everyone talking about what happened earlier, I drowned out the constant calls of my names from the guys and I tried to stay clear of Edward.

How in the HELL could he think about doing that to me, it's basically the same as what Alice made mike do, does that family want to hurt me or something? He was going to drug me! DRUG ME into sleeping with him. Now that hurt, badly.

The strange thing is, I still feel the same for him; I couldn't hate him the way I wanted because I knew I was falling for him. I felt overwhelmed, defeated. I knew I'd cave into him if he started talking to me, I needed to keep away from him until I was able to get over him.

School ended but cheerleading practice was on, which sucked, I didn't even want to be a cheerleader anymore, I just wanted to quit and forget everything, have my old life back and be done with it!

As I walked down the bleachers Rose ran up to me, looking concerned by my sudden lack of enthusiasm;

"Bella! What did Edward tell you? You looked so upset, I'm going to kill him" I just shrugged

"it doesn't matter anymore, I couldn't care less, and I'm over it." in a way it didn't matter, what he was going to do was in the past, I couldn't change that, but I definitely wasn't over it and she knew it;

"Bell, you still look heartbroken, once he sees you he will run over here and try to talk to you, I want to help." I just looked at her with a small smile

"Rose you can't help, no one can help, to be honest the only thing you can do is trust me and make sure Edward stays away from me for a while. I just don't need this shit piled on top of me" She nodded without saying anything and we got on with our cheerleading.

Edward didn't come anywhere near me during practice, he must've known I didn't want to speak with him which in a way I was thankful for.

I headed towards my car and started thinking about different question's running through my mind. The only question I needed to answer was if I was someone who could easily forgive.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

_I was walking through a forest, looking around, wondering where I was. I noticed a light through a group of trees, huddled together, I slowly moved towards the light, feeling the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the slight breeze floating around me. _

_I pull the branches out, enough to let me pass through when I heard a tapping sound, it was such a low sound I barely even heard it myself. I step into the light and suddenly the whole scene changed. I was in school, floating over everyone like a ghost. _

_All the student's were smiling and dancing, having a good time, until I noticed Jasper and I talking, I walk out and I followed, the memories flooding back, watching the fate that brought me the most pain. _

_Mike grabbing me, throwing me onto the lockers so he could make me unable to move. So he could rape me. No! I couldn't watch this, I couldn't relive it again. I remembered that Edward would be coming any minute and saving me, but he never showed, I was beaten and raped. Why wasn't he there! WHY DIDNT HE SAVE ME! _

"_Because you don't love me, why should I help when you don't feel an ounce of love towards me?" I turned around and saw him staring at me, like I was there at that moment _

"_I do love you Edward, but you hurt me, you were going to do what he just done" he shook his head_

"_I was going to do it for love, I knew you loved me and I knew you wanted to be with me but were denying it" I just stood there, why was he saying these things _

"_Bella, I loved you, but now all I feel is hate towards you, I should've left Mike to destroy your life, you never know, he might try it again... And this time I won't be here to help." He vanished, just disappeared without even a goodbye or explanation, I ran towards where the light disappeared and looked for him, trying to find him the best I could._

"_Edward! STOP PLEASE" I ran and then realised I went in a complete circle, I was back to where my body lay silent, my breath was unsteady and I was suffering from so much hurt and pain, when was this going to end._

_A loud cough came from behind me; I slowly turn round and see Mike smiling sadistically at me while holding a gun to my head _

"_The suffering ends now, I had fun, too bad you had to die, bye Bella" BANG!_

I woke up screaming, I thought my nightmares were over, but obviously I can never escape them. I turned to the clock and noticed it was only 4am, what was I going to do for another 3 hours? So I just got up and jumped in the shower, sitting there, trying to forget what I saw.

It was 7am by the time Emmett came downstairs holding Rosalie's hands

"Morning Bella, how come you're up early?" I shrugged, I didn't want to tell them about the nightmares, it would just make things worse;

"Couldn't really sleep" Rosalie came over and hugged me

"You look like you haven't slept for days, is this about Edward?" I sighed; she could now read me like a book

"Only a wee bit, it's also about Alice." Her eyes narrowed at the sound of her name; she despised Alice, she didn't want her anywhere near me; but I understood why.

"What about her"

"I'm thinking about forgiving her" both of their mouths dropped open as soon as I said those words

"You can't be serious?" I nodded; Rosalie grabbed my arms and spun me round

"Are you insane? Do you not remember what she did?" I nodded again unable to speak as she screamed angrily in my face;

"THEN WHY BELLA, she hurt you and you're forgiving her! Are you going to forgive Edward too then?" I couldn't think of anything to say, I was speechless.

Emmett sighed loudly trying to get Rosalie to calm down;

"You're too nice Bella, you need to become a bitch, they don't deserve forgiveness, well Alice anyways, I don't know about Edward cos' you won't tell us, but still they don't deserve you." I shook my head

"You don't need to know Emmett." Rosalie laughed sarcastically

"Yeah right, he obviously hurt you bad enough not to tell us, which means it was bad!"

"Please, let's just forget it! I'm over it, to be honest I don't even care, I can't stop liking him even when I hate him. There's no point holding grudges, it ages you faster anyway." Rosalie just sat there stirring her coffee

"Fine, forgive them, but if they hurt you again I will kill them" I smiled and hugged her tight

"Thanks chick, but don't worry I won't be forgiving them for a while. I don't know if I could talk to Edward again but I know I can't hate him."

School started off silent to say the least, everyone in our group just sat there in silence, feeling awkward. I just ignored everyone I just sat looking at my phone, pictures of me and the guys.

Edward walked into the cafeteria as usual and looked over at our table, he glanced over at me, he looked drained, all the colour was out of his face, his hair was a mess and it looked like he hadn't shaved at all, which kind of gave him a sexy stubble look. _I just wish my mind would SHUT UP!_ Even when he was looking pathetic he looked sexy! What was wrong with me. I quickly looked away.

Edward sat with us, but on the opposite side of the table to me, everyone was waiting for me to react, to slap him again, to yell at him with rage, or to even get upset and storm off. NO! I wouldn't do any of those things, yeah it was awkward but I was ignoring him and the others completely, I could feel Rosalie watching me, making sure I wasn't too upset at the fact he was sitting so close;

"So Bella, wanna hang out after school" Thanks Jazz, at least someone's making effort to create conversation.

"Yeah sure Jazz, what did you have in mind." I suddenly heard Tyler mutter 'hardcore sex' but I rolled my eyes and waited for Jasper to answer, it was obvious he heard it to and didn't know what to say

"Um, we could, go out and see a movie or something? Maybe just hang out at yours with Rose & Em?" I smiled

"Sounds great" Edward looked pissed, he must've thought I was trying to make him jealous or something, he was getting deluded – not every decision or thought I make includes him.

The final bell went and it was finally the weekend! To sit in and do nothing for two solid days, I sat down and turn on my laptop, I decided to go on facebook and just creep on everyone's walls.

Tyler: PARTY AT MINE TONIGHT – BRING ALCOHOL! 23 likes and 42 comments. 

Tanya: Can't wait 4 the party 2night to see my baby, he better not ignore me, fighting sucks with the bf. 2 likes 2 comments'. Yeah right must be talking about her imaginary boyfriend.

I decided to click on Edwards's page to see his last update which I noticed was 4 minutes ago. Edward: Regret. Never hurt the one you love, in the end it's also hurts you. 19 likes 0 comments.

I sat debating about whether I should I like it or not say anything? If I ignore it would he know or if I like it would he know I understood? I clicked the like button and signed off.

I looked at my watch and noticed it was 10:45pm; maybe it's time for an early night? I wasn't in the mood to do anything and I felt drained.

Waking up to the feeling of Saturday was great, knowing I wouldn't have to look at any of the sluts and assholes for two whole days was amazing! Less drama for a while, I jumped out of bed and went downstairs for my breakfast, debating whether to have a pj day.

Eventually Emmett came down looking like a sugar addict. Where in the hell does he get THAT much energy?

"Hey sis, you ready for the party tonight?" I just shook my head pretending to act dumb about it;

"What party?" Emmett looked insulted at this question

"Eh, TYLERS PARTY, it's on tonight, one of the biggest parties of the year, junior you HAVE to go" Tyler's party? No thanks, I would rather die than go to it, drama always happens at that party and since it attracts me these days I know I'd be the ring leader of it all.

"No thanks Em, just having a chill out day and then going to head to the cinema or something" he looked sad now

"With who, everyone's going to the party" I thought about it for a moment, not knowing how to reply to it; so I quickly blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind;

"With... Alice, I decided to see if we can still be friends" his face turned sour, as if disgusted by my choice of company;

"Oh, well if that turns out bad you know you can come to the party. Okay? I'll be there if you need me"

As he left the room I thought _Great now I had to text Alice and pretend I wanted to test our friendship out_. Was I really ready to do that? I grabbed my phone and started to text her:

**Hey Alice, wanna head 2 cinema 2nite? –B.**

I sent the message and started watching some cartoons, something I had to do every Saturday morning, who wouldn't want to watch cartoons? There hilarious and cheer you up for the rest of the day. I watched a few episodes of the Simpsons and SpongeBob squarepants and then heard my phone beeping; a message from Alice appeared on the screen:

**Hey! Def, would love 2, what movie? – A x.**

I smiled; at least I didn't have to go to the party: I instantly replied; just wanting to get it over with;

**Gd (: what about Love 2 Die? Looks gd? – B x.**

I sent the message and waited for a reply which came as soon as I sent it:

**Yay sounds gd, meet u there? – A x.**

There, movie sorted now just where and when to meet:

**Yeah, 6 outside cinema? – B x.**

Which she replied to as yeah, so now I just needed to pick what I was wearing and how much time I needed to drive up there.

I hope tonight won't be awkward, I don't know why but I've missed her, knowing she hasn't really been speaking to anyone since what happened. I just want my old life back, and I guess this is part of how I can do that.

It was now 4 so I quickly jumped in the shower and got changed and put my makeup on. Which took a while so now it was half 4 and I ran downstairs to get something to eat.

"Emmett, I'm leaving in half an hour so I'll text you later when I'm home" he must've been busy getting ready for the party because all I heard was a yell back from behind the door

"Okay sis, REMEMBER! The party is still on!" I laughed of course he would try and get me to go to the party; but I doubt I'd ever go to one of his parties... ever.

"I know Em, I'll think about it, See ya!"

I ran down the stairs and headed for my car, the drive seemed shorter than usual, there was hardly any traffic and there were hardly any people either. I parked my car and headed to the cinema to find Alice already there waiting for me. I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around and smiled.

"Hey Alice" she hugged me gently so things wouldn't be awkward; it was strange being here with her but it felt alright, for now at least;

"Hey Bella, how are you?" I hugged her back

"I'm good, glad you were free tonight" she simply nodded, smiling softly as I spoke;

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world, thanks for asking me" I felt relieved that she was so happy; I thought she would be acting all depressed or trying to suck up more, but I was just glad things were turning out well so far;

"No problem Al, I've missed you, how about we go see the movie"

We headed into the cinema and we basically just acted the way we did when we were friends, buying sticky sweets and throwing them at people further down than us, laughing at their reactions, some people even stormed off! Which was hilarious, the movie was entertaining, it was supposed to be a thriller, but it was so terribly made it was laughable!

Once we left the cinema we headed to a restaurant that was just opposite the road and just sat in and got what we usually ordered.

"I can't believe that movie was called scary! It was just people in love who wanted to kill each other so no one else could have them" I laughed,

"I KNOW! I wish I never picked that movie, it was awful" Alice shook her head

"it made us laugh anyway, so was worth it"

"I'm not ready to stop hanging out, do you want to go to mine? We could hang out and stuff like we used to?" Alice's face lit up when I asked her

"Yeah! Or we could even go to Tyler's party? I hear its amazing" I shrugged

"It did sound like a good party, I just don't want drama" she lowered her head

"True, I shouldn't have suggested it" I rolled my eyes, she needed to stop with this whole I'm sorry thing;

"Al, you have every right to suggest it, it's the three sluts I was worried about" she mutter quietly "and Edward?" I sighed; I didn't think about that; would he even be there tonight? _Of course he would; it's the party of the year;_

"I didn't think about that, but I guess that too. If you want to go we can go Alice, I honestly don't mind" which was a lie, but I was having fun and it might've been fun just to dance and laugh at everyone getting drunk and acting like fools.

Alice drove behind me to my house and then we just headed to Tyler's party in my car, why waste petrol on going to the same place together?

"Is what I'm wearing alright for a party? Haven't been to one in a while?" she nodded giving me the once over to check;

"Yeah you look great, and I haven't been to one for a while either, so don't worry we can just stick together" I sighed with relief

"Thank God! We can hang out with Em & Rose too" Alice gulped so I carried on speaking

"Alice, they don't like what you did but if I forgive you they have to accept it, it's only if you hurt me again they'll hate you" she understood where I was coming from, they obviously didn't like her at the minute, but I'm sure that can change... right?

"I know and I would never hurt you again! I can't believe I got so obsessed with Jasper like that." she was right; I don't understand how she could've been so obsessed; I know he's a great guy and he's hot as hell, but there was no need to go insane;

"It's okay Alice, just don't let it happen again, please?" we both laughed went into the house; feeling nervous yet excited;

Let the fun begin.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Driving into Tyler's driveway was difficult to do. There were cars EVERYWHERE, just ditched wherever possible. I managed to find a small spot to park my car and then we headed inside. The place was a mess, streamers everywhere, laser lights spinning round the room, glow sticks and paint at the door, so you could feel like you're in a rave, it was amazing! They were definitely right about it being the party of the year, there was a dj and outside there was a live band for people who didn't like rave music.

Everyone was drunk and dancing and having a lot of fun. We put on our war paint, having fun with it, we put hand prints over our body and war paint designs on our faces and then headed towards the kitchen to try and find someone we knew, I know Emmett usually hangs out in those places which have the drink and the food - he was so transparent.

"Bella, we'll end up being killed trying to get through here" she sounded nervous, but it made me laugh; I doubt we'd die from walking through a mosh pit;

"I know but we have to try" she smirked as her eyes lit up as if she had an good idea;

"Or we could just attract the people to us?" now I was confused

"How in the hell would we do that?" she smiled and grabbed my arm pulling me towards the lounge were the music was playing

"By dancing of course"

Dancing to this music was fun, energetic and painful, people standing on your feet, pushing you around, and bouncing up and down like we were a kangaroo; it was the only way to explain the whole thing. But I wouldn't change it, it was so much fun and I didn't think parties like this would be that interesting, but it was something completely different, I'd love to have my own party like this!

I yelled to Alice "This is AMAZING" she just through her arms in the air and hugged me, still dancing so it was funny to watch. I looked around me, trying to spot a familiar face, no one around me was someone I knew at all, they all looked older than us and some even looked around 24/25. Finally I spotted a group of people in the corner smiling and drinking, it was Tyler with some of the football players, the sluts and then Emmett, Rose, Jasper and... Edward.

Edward was the only one who didn't look like he was having fun, it looked like someone dragged him to the party and was forcing him to try and have fun. I felt so bad for him, but then I remembered I had to pretend to hate him. Would it matter if I forgave him? I forgave Alice so what's the difference? I know I took longer to forgive Alice, but would it really be so different?

"Alice, they're over there" I pointed dramatically so she could see, she looked worried

"Are you sure they won't hate me" I nodded so she carried on speaking, but I could tell she didn't want to go over there.

"Okay, let's go!" we drifted through the crowd's to get to my brother. He noticed us fighting our way through and he ran over to help us,

"YOU CAME!" I smiled, feeling as though I broke my promise of not showing up;

"Yeah! You told me it was a good party so we came to see if it was true!" he was beaming at this point.

"Glad your here sis!"

Rose came over and grabbed my hand pulling me towards the group, so I quickly grabbed Alice hand, which was shaking like mad, and we all went into one little group.

"So Alice, Bella forgave you then?" Alice simply nodded, while Rose gave her a dirty look

"I would be lying to say I like you, but if you hurt her again I swear I will kill you and your brother" Alice agreed and that was that, the threats were over and we were all talking, enjoying the music.

I glanced over at Edward a few times to see him watching me, probably wondering whether he was forgiven as well. I waited for him to notice me staring at him and then I nodded towards the back door, he smiled and subtly left the group to go outside.

"Rose I'll be right back" she smirked while giving me a small wink; she knew exactly where I was going; I just hoped it didn't turn bad like the last time;

"Don't go easy on him alright?" I laughed and agreed as I quickly followed him out of the house;

It was a cold night, I saw Edward sitting on one of the swings, the only swing that was available, it was packed outside, I didn't think this one through, but at least we couldn't really sit in silence, which would've been worse.

"Edward... I'm still angry at what you said, the thought of you doing that to me was frightening; but I can't hate you, I know that much; I'm not entirely sure that I can forgive you completely... it'll take time; you know that right?"

He simply nodded every time I spoke, taking in what I was saying and waiting for me to finish before speaking; he knew what I said made sense; I knew I couldn't forgive him completely, not yet; he had to earn my trust again;

"I know I probably can forgive you, but all you have to do is give me time, I really liked you and I didn't think I ever would, I thought at the start you were a complete prick" he laughed but I continued, not wanting to lose my train of thought or courage;

"but then I thought, hey, maybe he is a decent guy with a stone cold front to make people like him better, but all I'm trying to say Edward is don't hurt me again, this is your final chance okay?"

He smiled widely, as his face lit up with happiness; I knew he was happy at the fact he had a chance of winning me over; but neither of us knew how long that would take.

"Yeah I understand I'm truly sorry for what I was going to do and I'm glad I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself for it. Can we be at least friends, well until you can forgive me?"

I nodded and we exchanged smiles, he grabbed my arms gently and pulled me into hugged me. It felt warm, as though it was something I needed all along; I knew my feelings for him were strong but I knew I couldn't be with him until I could trust him fully.

We headed back to the party and just joined into the group again, laughing and dancing, it was a great night, until Tanya noticed Edwards arm linked in mine, _we were just friends remember, doesn't mean we can't link arms! _

She stormed up to us and slapped me across the face. Everyone who was close to us turned round in shock, the fury on her face was evident and the look of shock on my face was loud and clear.

"WHAT THE FUCK are you doing with MY Eddie!" she did not just say that, I grabbed hold of my face for where it was THROBBING from pain

"WHY did you just slap me? I haven't done ANYTHING with _your_ Eddie, who really isn't _your_ Eddie at all. So fuck off before I hurt you again, or did you forget" she moved back slightly but stood glaring at me.

"He is my Eddie, he's my boyfriend! NOT YOURS!" Edward unlinked our arms and faced Tanya

"I am NOT your Eddie, I've told you thousands of times, so leave me alone, leave my friends alone and especially leave Bella alone, or I will get someone to hurt you." Her eyes were full of tears and she was begging Edward to give her another chance.

I just snapped, maybe it was because of the confidence that coursed through my veins or maybe it was the fact she slapped me, I pushed Edward slightly so he would move and I punched her square in the face, she fell down on the floor screaming while grabbing her nose to stop the bleeding; _did she expect anything less?_

Everyone's eyes were on me, just what I wanted to avoid. Edward held me back from Tanya and I was livid, she kept thinking I was stealing someone who wasn't even her's!

"Listen here Tanya, leave me alone, I don't care if you love your precious little Eddie, but we are friends, he isn't interested, and get that into your slutty mind! Go obsess over someone else because everyone is sick and tired of you butting in and being a whiny little BRAT!" she got up and ran out of the room, obviously too scared to fight back.

I turned around to face Emmett and Rose, as the music changed; turning into a new song;

"What? Let's dance!" I pulled Alice and Rose to the dance floor and everyone went back to doing whatever they were doing; I couldn't believe that just happened - she had to ruin my night!

The rest of the guys danced with us to, just joining in and having fun. I headed to the bathroom so I could be alone for a second; the place was so packed it was like a sauna in there!

I sat on the edge of the bath and took a breath, just listening to the low sound of the music from downstairs, suddenly I heard a knock on the door, and I walked over and peered out to find jasper outside smiling.

"Hey I came up here to see if your alright?" I smiled, he was always so considerate, I loved it about him;

"I'm fine Jazz, just needed a minute of silence" he laughed agreeing with me immediately;

"Yeah it's a full rave down there, mind having some company?" I shook my head he was always welcome to sit with me whenever he wanted;

"Come on in and enjoy the quiet" we closed the door and locked it, making sure no one could barge in and think something was going on.

"So, you and Edward are friends again then?" I smiled happily, thinking about how everything was falling into place;

"Yeah, just friends, I need to learn to trust him again" he nodded in understanding

"As long as he doesn't hurt you again, I hate seeing you in pain" I looked at him with admiration; he was definitely going to be a part of my life for a very long time; I never wanted to lose him;

"Thanks Jazz, you're a good friend, I'd be lost without you" he slid over and hugged me tightly.

"No problem, I care about you, and if he hurts you I'll hurt him" he leaned in and kissed me slowly, I was caught off guard but I didn't know how to stop him, I admit _again_ he was a great kisser, but me and Alice were just starting to become friends again, and I only thought of him as a friend, even a brother figure.

I pulled away but his hand slipped around my neck making me unable to move, I slid my hands onto his chest and push him slightly, so he knew I wanted him to stop, he continued for a minute, leaving me breathless as he moved away and gave me a confused look.

"Is something wrong?" I nodded, I didn't want to hurt him, but I guess I had to... I couldn't lie to him;

"Jazz, I only think of you as a friend, you're a great guy but you're my best friend, and I would never risk anything that would change that" he looked away, looking hurt by my admission; I felt sorry for him; I wish I could feel something more; I did like him, but I liked Edward more;

"Yeah, I guess I seen that coming, I'm sorry for kissing you"

"Don't be, you're an amazing kisser" he chuckled as he grabbed my hand gently, looking into my eyes affectionately;

"We're still alright... aren't we?" I nodded, how could he think anything different? Nothing would change between us... ever. I kissed his cheek quickly, causing his cheeks to redden; he suited it; he leant down and kissed me once more, lifting me up off the bath and pulling me close to him; deepening the kiss; I knew he was kissing me one last time; letting me know he'd always be there as my back up;

We pulled away, trying to catch our breath; I blushed hard as he laughed at my reaction; he kissed my forehead;

"We're great Jazz, let's get back to the party" we both headed downstairs smiling and linking arm's to join the others;

I noticed Alice and Edward both looking a bit upset by that, but we weren't together and I wasn't with Edward and Jasper wasn't with Alice, so why couldn't we?

In the end the party was a blast and finally there wasn't any more drama for the rest of the night!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

The weeks went by faster than I thought, it was already summer and we all spent it together as friends, Rosalie still didn't like Alice and she made it obvious enough for Alice to know, but she stayed civil and didn't single her out which I was grateful for.

Edward and I were hitting it off great again, we were really close and he was now one of my closest friends. None of us thought about what was going to happen at the end of the summer when Rose, Em, Jasper AND Edward were heading to college. It was going to suck but I knew it was eventually going to happen.

We were all at the park hanging out with all the football players and cheerleaders, spending the time having a BBQ and just a wee party to celebrate them all getting into college and how they were all going to have so much fun leaving this town for a few years

"Bella, c'mon you're missing all the fun" Emmett waved me over; I smiled and quickly walked over to him and Rosalie.

Rosalie put her arm around my shoulder and sighed contently;

"I'm really going to miss you Bella, you're my best friend, and how am I going to survive with this big kid without you to help me." We both laughed while Emmett pretended to be shocked

"Rosie baby, I'm hurt" she rolled her eyes dramatically; pretending she didn't care; we all knew she loved Emmett; they were perfect together;

"Dry your eyes Emmett you know I'm joking, but seriously we will all miss you" Emmett suddenly yelled "GROUP HUG!" Edward, Jasper and Alice ran over and joined the bear hug.

"I can't believe everyone's leaving for college except us Bella, I wish we were older" I smiled at Alice,

"I know, but we will see them in college next year when we apply" she put her head on my shoulder "still sucks though" and all I could do was nod.

Edward came over with his arms opened wide, I hugged him and we just stood there, staying quiet and just absorbing the moment we probably wouldn't have in a while. Edward broke the silence.

"I'm going to miss you Bella, I don't know how I'm going to last a year in college without you" I hugged him tighter

"You'll do fine, you'll have parties, drinking and girls, what more could you want?" he whispered "only you" I sighed, after us making up weeks ago, I knew he wanted to be more than friends, I could trust him as a friend but I couldn't trust him enough to be my boyfriend, I wasn't mentally ready for that.

"You know why we can't be together right?" he nodded silently, looking more depressed than ever; I just wish I could forgive him for everything; but he knew I couldn't, not yet;

"Because of me being incredibly stupid" I sighed; thinking of only two words; self pity, one of the things Edwards GREAT at doing.

"Edward, we're friends, and that's all that matters" he sighed loudly, knowing I was right;

"I know, I'm grateful for that you know that right?" I grinned, I was definitely glad we were friends, at least for now; I nodded and kissed his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin as it made contact with my lips;

"What are we doing tonight then?" I shrugged casually, not really knowing what everyone was doing;

"We could watch movies at mine? Everyone else is busy so why not?" he smiled

"Sounds good, but what about Alice and Jasper?" Alice was still pining over jasper, but not in an obvious way anymore, which is so much better, but Jasper just doesn't look at any girls at all, I think he just needs to give Alice a chance but I don't think he's forgiven her for what she done to me yet.

"Jasper has a family thing to go to, Rose invited Emmett and I don't know about Alice, I think she was going shopping, I can't be bothered shopping though"

"BELLA!" I looked over and saw Alice skipping over

"C'mon let's dance" I moaned loudly, trying to hold on to her brother like a life line;

"Do I have to?" she smirked knowing she would win this argument; which sucked even more;

"Yes, now let go of my brother and get your cute little ass over there!" she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the dance floor while I mouthed 'HELP' to Edward, the asshole had the cheek to smile and mouth 'Nope' – I will get him back, mark my words!

It was HOUR'S before the BBQ was over, it was a great night, the food was great, we listened to music, danced most of the time and watched the guys play football.

I saw Edward being tortured by Tanya again, I was thinking about whether or not I should leave him to be annoyed but then I thought ill get him back a different way, leaving him alone with Tanya would really be TOO much torture I think.

I walked over casually and linked my arm with his while subtly leaning into him, which she noticed

"Edward, you ready to go?" he smiled over to me as his eyes lit up; he nodded excitedly yelling "Yes! Let's go... now!" a bit too quickly; I laughed and smiled sweetly at Tanya

"Bye Tanya, I'll miss our wee moments when you go off to college" she scowled

"Whatever, you won't be able to keep your eyes on him when he's in college" I giggled I may not be able to keep my eyes on him but we weren't together; I hated to say it but it was true; he didn't have to stay away from girls; he was free to date whoever he liked;

"Course I won't, we're just friends, as long as he doesn't sleep with you its fine" her face turned red with anger, but she knew not to mess with me, her nose was still slightly off to one side since the last time I hit her, so she just stormed off in a huff.

"You're my saviour miss McCarthy!" of course I was, but now I had to think of another way to get him back for earlier;

"I know, I'm that amazing" he put his arm round my shoulder and gave me his crooked smile that makes all the girls swoon

"That you are."

We arrived at mine, the house was empty, as per usual, my parents weren't around much these days, they were both fighting and they both decided to go off on separate vacations, I don't know whether that's a good thing or bad thing?

"You get the food ready and I'll pick the movie" I threw a pillow at Edward

"Why do I have to get the food Cullen? Are you trying to be sexist!" he plastered a fake hurtful look on his face

"I'd never do that, everyone knows you're my equal" I rolled my eyes dramatically, his sarcasm was annoying;

"Whatever! This time you get the food, you always pick shitty movies!"

We sat down and I picked the movie 'Never back down' who doesn't like Cam Gigandet and Sean Faris half naked and fighting? C'mon if girls say no then they have bad taste in men!

"Why are we watching this again" Edward hated this movie, mostly because of my constant drooling over the actors

"Because Eddie-kins, I love this movie!"

"Well I don't" what a cry baby I thought, how did he not like the fighting scenes? They were class;

"Edward, watch the damn movie" he looked right at me and slowly spoke

"Or what?" I looked straight into his eyes and smiled

"You'll find out soon if you don't!"

As soon as I said that I grabbed a pillow from behind me and hit him in the face with it, he looked shocked at first and then he looked determined

"You really shouldn't have done that" I screamed as loud as I could when he started tickling me, I pushed him off of me and I ran off towards the kitchen where I looked for some kind of weapon I could use to stop him.

He followed me into the kitchen and laughed at my holding a sieve in front of me,

"Really Bella, a sieve?" I smiled slightly "Don't make me use this Edward!" he pounced at me and spun me round in the air, which made us both laugh and fall to the floor.

Edward was on top of me, holding my arms down so I couldn't fight back, we were both breathing heavily and suddenly the room fell silent, Edward slowly moved closer to me as our lips met.

WOW, I actually forgot about how amazing he was at kissing; I felt this hot burning feeling on my skin as the butterflies tried to rip out of my stomach. The kiss deepened and suddenly Edward pulled his shirt off, his abs were just as hot as I remembered, we stopped kissing for a moment and I gently moved my hands across his chest, barely touching him and then I mumbled to myself "Fuck It"

I pushed him off me, making him lie on his back as I got on top of him, ripping my top of my skin and kissing him fiercely, as we kissed I realised we were lying in our underwear, on my kitchen floor, but it felt great and I didn't want to stop.

Edward whispered through our kisses "are you sure" I nodded and kept kissing him, all of a sudden we heard a yell coming from the kitchen door,

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" our heads turned quickly and noticed a very angry mum and dad staring at us in shock.

"Mum, dad, I can explain" my dad stormed over and grabbed Edward who was trying to pick up his clothes

"I find you with HIM! I trusted you to be good while we were gone and I find you on the floor on top of HIM! You've disappointed me young lady" he looked like he was ready to explode, the big vein on his forehead was getting bigger and my mum was still standing there in shock.

"AND YOU! Get your clothes on and leave my house immediately and stay the hell away from my daughter, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Edward looked at me while I was starting to become more and more upset, how could he ban me from seeing Edward? There's no way in hell that would happen!

"Sir, with all due respect I love your daughter, I would never hurt her on purpose" my dad laughed at what he said

"Like you haven't already hurt her enough, I know everything about what you and your sister done to her - now LEAVE!" with that Edward managed to only put his trousers on before he was thrown out of the house.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Why did you do it Bella, I want an answer" listening to my dad for an hour talking about how disappointed he was at me and how he thought he could trust me, it was ridiculous, I didn't even sleep with him, if they walking in 5 minutes later, I guess it would've been a lot more awkward.

I shrugged casually, what could I say? That I wanted to do it, that I loved him?

"I like him; he likes me, what's the big deal? You don't yell at Emmett" my mum decided to finally say something

"Because he isn't our baby girl, we don't want you falling pregnant and ruining your life" I turned to face her

"Like what happened with you? I know you accidentally got pregnant with Emmett mom, you've both done pretty well besides that, and anyway I'm not planning on getting pregnant, we would've taken precautions"

My mother sighed loudly "Yes sweetheart, we didn't plan Emmett, I don't regret having him, I just regret having him at your age, I would've preferred waiting a few years, but sweetie, I don't want you seeing Edward" I laughed

"It doesn't matter anyway; he's leaving for college in 2 weeks time"

My dad sat down beside my mother and crossed his arms "and you'll be moving to Ireland with me." What? What was he talking about, I couldn't move to Ireland; that's stupid; wait, what does he mean IRELAND, I'm not moving countries, there is no way in hell!

"What do you mean Ireland? I am NOT moving, what about Emmett" they looked at each other

"Well, your father and I have decided it's time to... call it a day; we don't feel the same as we did all those years ago; we're getting a divorce, we haven't been getting on well and I think it would be best if you went with your father while Emmett stays here with me, he's already gotten a place in college, it would be silly for him to move." I jumped up how could they do this to me, I couldn't move; not after just getting my life back to the way it was;

"This isn't fair! I don't want to move, I want to stay here!"

"You're moving to Ireland with me and that's that young lady! Now I suggest you start packing, we're leaving on Friday" WHAT! He can't be serious, three days? Impossible;

"That's in THREE DAYS TIME! Are you trying to ruin my life?"

And with that I stormed off to my room, I sat on my bed and cried my heart and soul out, how they do this to me? I thought maybe Edward and I were finally getting somewhere and they throw this at me? Why couldn't I stay if Emmett was going to college, it makes no sense!

I grabbed my phone from my bedside table and rang Emmett's number, straight to voicemail, so I rang Rosalie, whose phone done the same

"FOR FUCK SAKE DOES NO ONE ANSWER THEIR PHONE ANYMORE?" I rang Jasper next; his phone went straight to voicemail too. This is stupid.

So I rang Alice, she answered as soon as it rang once, (Alice – Italics, Bella - Bold)

"_Hey you, what happened? Edward came into the house looking upset and pissed off, what did he do!" _I burst into tears

"**I'm moving"** the line went silent for a few moments

"_You're what?"_ I tried calming down and then spoke

"**My mom and dad are divorcing, my dad's moving to Ireland and he's decided to take me with him, Ally I can't move! I need you and everyone! I don't want to go!" **She went silent again and I wondered if the phone line went dead

"_You can move in with us Bella! My mom would totally agree to it, I'm not losing you again!"_

"**I wish Ally, my mom and dad wouldn't allow it" **

"_We can't just GIVE UP!" _I sighed

"**There's no use, I won't be able to change their minds, it's too late."**

I heard shuffling in the background and whispering

"_Alice is that Bella on the phone? I'm trying to get a hold of her but her phones busy"_she let out a deep breath

"_Yes it is Edward! We're busy; go bother her some other time" _I heard movement and then yelling (mostly Alice by the sounds of it)

"_BELLA! What happened once I left? Are you alright?" I closed my eyes _

"**Everything's fine Edward, can you give the phone back to Alice please?"**he went silent for a moment

"_What happened? You sound upset" _I sighed

"**Nothing happened Edward; tell Alice I'll speak to her later okay? Bye" **and with that I hung up, I knew I acted coldly around him but I was upset, I didn't know whether I would ever see him again and that just brought back the tears.

The sound of rain woke me up, was it just a nightmare? It didn't really happen did it? I slowly got up and got showered and dressed. When I came back into my room I noticed a big pile of flat boxes at my walk in wardrobe, I walked over and saw a note on top:

Bella, these are for packing your things, we'll speak later sweetheart – mom xo

Now I knew they were serious, I didn't even care about them getting divorced, I knew that would definitely happen, but I never expected this, not in a million years.

I decided just to do what they said, I wouldn't be able to change their minds, it sucked but what's the point in making it worse? I started packing and got half of my stuff already packed in a matter of hours, I went downstairs for a bite to eat and Emmett, Rose & Jasper were sitting on the sofa in silence.

I just walked straight passed them and headed to the kitchen, hearing their footsteps following me. I opened the fridge and grabbed a drink, Jasper spoke first

"We heard the news Bella, I can't believe it, this doesn't seem fair" I just stood there staring at the bottle of water in my hands

"Why is dad doing this? He doesn't need to take you with him, how in the hell am I going to see you on weekends sis?" tears started falling down my face and Emmett raced over to hug me

"We'll sort this out sis; I promise you won't have to go"

"Emmett, there's no point fighting it, I'm leaving on Friday" Rosalie yelled in anger; furious that I was leaving; we were best friends, I didn't want to leave her, I needed her.

"WHAT! Not even a fucking warning from your parents except for yesterday! That's ridiculous!" I simply nodded and just held onto Emmett tighter whispering

"I'm going to miss you guys, can you help me finish my packing, it's just my books and stuff that needs packed" they all looked devastated but they agreed to help.

My phone kept lighting up with Edward and Alice's pictures, they kept trying to ring me and I ignored them, waiting until I was ready to say goodbye, which would have to be soon. We finished by dinner time and then we spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the pool, talking about how we all became friends.

Mom and dad came home around seven, trying to avoid each other as much as possible, mom came outside and saw us all sitting by the pool, Emmett looked pissed and ignored her, I on the other hand didn't

"What mom?" she was fidgeting with her hands she seemed nervous all of a sudden.

"Sweetheart can I speak with you?" I nodded and walked towards the living room and sat down to hear what she wanted to say.

"Now sweetie, I always wanted you to stay here, but your father was adamant at you moving with him, you can come back on holidays and birthdays, even the summer if you want to, but I'm sorry you can't stay, I will miss you." Tears were falling from her face and you could tell she meant everything she said, I got up and hugged her tightly

"I'll try and get back as soon as I'm allowed" she nodded and went off back to work, not wanting to watch any fighting or arguments that might happen.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

I couldn't believe that the time had flew in so fast, tomorrow was the day I was leaving for Ireland, all my stuff was already flown to our home there and dad had already gone over as well to make sure everything was unpacked and sorted for us moving in. Sounds exciting doesn't it? Except I was leaving EVERYONE I loved.

Now all I had to do was say goodbye to everyone, I knew most people would be at the diner as per usual, they always went on a Thursday during the summer just to hang out with everyone.

I drove over and sat in my car for a minute chanting the same thing 'you can do this!' and after enough chanting to myself I got out of my car and slowly made my way over to the diner.

When the doors opened everyone looked over and their smiles disappeared, everyone knew I was leaving and they all were just as upset as I was. Alice raced over and hugged me, with tears forming in her eyes

"I can't believe your leaving tomorrow, I don't want you to go" my tears started to fall

"I know, but you can visit whenever you want, you know that right!" she nodded and continued to hug me.

I said good bye to nearly everyone, except for one person, Edward, who wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Rosalie, where's Edward?" she shrugged,

"He went outside, something about 'needing air'" I glanced through the window and found Edward standing by my car. I walked out and headed towards him.

"Hey Edward" he just looked down at the ground

"Why didn't you tell me?" I gulped; I should've known he'd ask

"Because I didn't want to tell you until nearer the time, you would've been a whole lot worse if you knew, and you know that" he put his hand through his hair and took a breath.

"Did they tell you why you were leaving?" I shook my head

"I'm sorry Edward; I guess we'll see each other again once I start college, it's only a year, it'll be fine." His head shot up and glared at me

"No Bella, it won't be alright, I won't be able to see you whenever I wanted, I won't get to hug you when you need comforted, I won't be able to do anything."

All I could say was "I'm sorry, I don't want to leave while you're so angry Edward, please." He shrugged

"Whatever" and he stormed off towards his car, not even a goodbye? Did I mean that little to him? The tears fell down my face fast, my chest hurt and I just felt heartbroken, I forgave him for what he done to me, so why couldn't he forgive me for something I couldn't control? It wouldn't be that long yet he's making me feel so guilty, he will probably be the only one of them that won't contact me after this

I went home and cried on the sofa while my mom held me, telling me everything would be okay and that Edward would come around,

"It's too late mom, if he does contact me he's lost his chance, if I could forgive him for what he done why can't he understand what's happening ISN'T my fault" she smiled

"Because he's lost the girl he loves sweetie."

The next morning was hard to say the least, I didn't want to wake up, and even if I did I would want everything back to the way it was before all of this, I wish Edward and I never became friends, I wish I never became friends with Rosalie and jasper, I wish I just stayed close to Alice and no one else, it would've meant I could've stayed and became friends with them when I was older, yet wiser.

I got changed and took a breath, I went downstairs to find Emmett sitting on the sofa watching cartoons, I would miss this, not seeing my own brother whenever I needed him, Skype is basically the only thing we can do now.

He walked over and hugged me "I'm gonna miss you sis, you have to come back on the holidays you understand me!" I nodded, trying really hard to hold the tears back.

"I will Emmett, I love you so much" a tear fell from his cheek, but he quickly wiped it away

"I'll miss you too sis... Are you ready to go?"

"If I say no can I stay" he laughed

"I wish, but if you don't go now, you know dad would come get you" I sighed

"I know... let's go".

We made it to the airport and I closed my eyes and tried to collect my thoughts, Emmett grabbed my bags and got me through the airport, minutes before my plane was called out over the speaker.

"Flight 894 to Ireland is leaving at terminal 5 in 15 minutes"

"That's me... I don't want to go Em, ever!" he put his arms around me

"I know, but it's an adventure, you'll be back soon, I just know it".

I made my way to the terminal, where the smiling attendant's took my ticket and guided me through the doors, this was it, the last time id see my brother in person, for at least a year, maybe more.

When I arrived in Belfast everything was so new and strange to me, for starters the time difference SUCKED! 6 hours behind of Forks, so I was now extra tired knowing I would have to redo the day all over again, I walked through the airport thinking how small is this place? It's tiny compared to anywhere I've ever been.

It was hard to find the front doors but I managed it in the end and I noticed my dad standing beside a taxi, smiling at me arriving safe. I walk towards him and he hugs me, the hug WASNT reciprocated.

"Glad you made it here bells" I simply nodded; he probably was expecting the silent treatment because he ignores my silence and put my stuff in the car. Did you know they drive on the OPPOSITE side of the road, and the steering wheel in the cars on the right instead of the left, how confusing?

When we got to the house after what felt like hours of awkward silence, I came to notice how beautiful Belfast truly was, the countryside of it anyway, there were trees everywhere, fields with sheep and cows, tiny local shops that were adorable and the place was full of colour and people, not as many as you would see in Seattle but a more popular type of forks.

"We're here sweetie" I slowly made my way out of the car and my mouth fell open, the house was AMAZING! The house was far away from the road, so you wouldn't hear any traffic, it was a beautiful country house and gardens with stables, and what looked like a restored stone barn there was a small pond outside with beautiful trees and flowers. I actually couldn't wait to see the inside; it would probably be just as beautiful.

Dad opened the doors and to say the place was gorgeous was an understatement. It was big! Bigger than our original house in forks, it looked like a house off mtv cribs, it was stunning. There was an Impressive hallway and three separate reception rooms, Spacious handcrafted country style kitchen with Aga and large Utility Room, it had so many bedrooms it was unbelievable and it had beautifully landscaped gardens including lawns, a small lake, trees & shrub, stone walls and a tennis court which I will definitely be using!

"How could you afford this place dad? Its breath-taking" he laughed

"Obviously you don't know how much money I make sweetie" I smiled, for the first time since I arrived, he continued speaking

"I also knew you weren't happy moving here, so I bought you a little present to help you cheer up, follow me to the garage" did he get me a new car? He could've just imported my car over to here?

I followed him, basically running after him, soaking in all that was around me until I noticed a hot car staring right at me! A Volkswagen golf r32 limited edition, I was speechless, I loved these cars!

"Dad, you seriously didn't have to get me another car, its beautiful" he put his arm around me

"It's no problem sweetie, I want you to be happy here, I've got you transferred into a school that's a short distance away and you need to retake your test to get a UK drivers license which has been booked in a few weeks time." My eyes lit up, I was on cloud 9 at the minute, and nothing could bring me down.

I ran to my bedroom, excited to see what it looked like, when I went in I noticed it was a plain cream room (HUGE!) but simple, with nothing on it at all.

"I thought I'd let you decorate it yourself, make it more your own. There are shops 10 minutes away were we can buy paint and supplies if you need them soon."

I walked over to my dad and hugged him tightly "thank you" and for the first time in ages I seen a change in him, he looked happier, more alert; he was the dad I remembered from my childhood.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

The day definitely changed for me, it dragged in and it was only because of the jet lag I was suffering, it would eventually go away once I get used to the time difference.

I was sitting outside on the balcony and watched the stars, realising how beautiful and clear they were here, I had a feeling I would like it here, but it sucked I couldn't enjoy it with everyone, I missed Emmett annoying me with his childish antics, Rosalie's bitchiness towards EVERYTHING, Jasper's understanding and philosophy speeches and Alice's bubbly attitude that kept me from becoming depressed.

The worst of it was that I missed Edward the most, he wouldn't want to speak with me, and why would he? He chose to ignore me, to not say goodbye, I shouldn't waste my time thinking about him at all. I was going to enjoy this, and forget all about him... one way or another!

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, I settled into my new school well, a lot of people were new to the school too so I quickly adjusted, making good friends along the way (I hope) I talked to everyone (except) Edward every few days, but as the time went by I only spoke to them once a week, maybe not even that, they were busy with their college times while I was busy having the time of my life.

"Bella, what are you goin' to do for your 18th birthday" my new friend Katie said, she introduced herself the first day I went to the school and we were best friends ever since (well 'besties' as she called it)

"I don't know, I was thinking of just having a few people round" she shook her head violently

"No way, you need to have a birthday to remember babes; you need to go to a club or something! It's your 18th, live a little" I smiled, I knew she was right

"I just feel weirded out that I won't be celebrating it with my brother and friends from back home" she nodded

"Don't worry hun, we all have problems like that, you have me, Lucy, Jack and Ryan, we will not let you have a suckish birthday!"

I should really explain shouldn't I? Lucy was my other friend who was close friends with Katie before we met, then jack and Ryan are an openly GAY couple who thought they should be best friends with us.

As soon as she mentioned their names, they appeared in my garden smiling

"Hey bitches, what's the craic?" of course Ryan was bouncing off the walls, he must've drank too much red bull today. I rolled my eyes

"Nothing much babe, discussing my birthday" Jack sat down and checked his nails

"Well why not have a house party? I'm sure yer da would let ye have one" no way would my dad let me have a house party, he didn't let me have them in forks so no chance having one here, I shook my head.

"Not unless it's someone else's house" Lucy sighed,

"Well we could always do something else?" I grabbed my drink and started shaking the bottle gently, watching it fizz fast

"We'll see closer to the time"

It was the morning of my birthday, I was excited and couldn't wait to celebrate it tonight, but then I thought about it more and realised it would be the first birthday without Emmett and my mum being here, it was going to be strange but I was debating whether to ring them or not, maybe wait for them to ring? Decisions!

I made my way downstairs and heard small whispers from my dad and two other voices, I slowly walked in and my mouth hit the floor.

"MINI ME!" Emmett ran towards me and spun me in the air

"Happy Birthday sis!" I smiled, why the hell was he here? I couldn't believe he came here all the way to see me

"Thanks Emmett, what the hell are you doing here? You should be in college!" he laughed

"I couldn't miss your birthday bells, I missed you too, and I've gotten it cleared with college that I'm spending a week here"

My smile turned wider "a week? Seriously, I have so much to show you here it's unbelievable!" he smiled his goofy grin, he ran to the table and grabbed a present, he looked so excited to give me the present he just ran over to me and was nearly jumping up and down

"Here's a present from me and Rosie" At the sound of her name I frowned; I really missed Rosalie; even hearing her name brought a small smile that made me think: what the hell did she get me. I ripped the paper open as fast as I could and I was nearly in tears, it was a handmade scrapbook full of pictures of me and the gang that she must've made, and two plane tickets for my dad and I to come visit them next month to celebrate Emmett's birthday, I loved it!

"Thank you Em! I love both my gifts" I hugged him tight and I could feel a smile forming on his face

"Anything for my favourite sister" I laughed

"Your only sister" he rolled his eyes

"Whatever, you still know it's true!" and I definitely did; he was a great brother for doing this;

My mother coughed and smiled when I turned around, I walked over to her and gave her a big hug

"Hey mom, I'm so glad you're here, I was going to ring you guys later, but this is FAR better!" she laughed lightly

"Happy birthday baby, here's your present" I took the present from the table and ripped it open, finding a small box with the words Rolex on it, I obviously know what this was, I opened the box and smiled widely, it was a diamond white studded Rolex watch, it was gorgeous!

"Thank you so much mom" she hugged me gently "no problem sweetheart" my dad grabbed a present from the table and smiled,

"Here's mine baby girl" I grabbed the present and opened it, it was the Gucci handbag id seen in town that I wanted but he said I couldn't have, now I know why

"Oh my god dad I love it!"

He laughed "I know, I didn't want to tell you why you couldn't have it that day, but I wanted it to be a surprise." I smiled

"Sis! These are from Alice" I looked over to find a big box lying on the floor; I lifted the lid and found a beautiful little black dress with a card saying:

Sorry I couldn't be there, I will be next time don't you worry! But this is to wear on your birthday with your killer heels I know you have!

Love You, Alice xo

I smiled, I missed Alice so much! She was my best friend; I hated not seeing her every day.

"The final present is from Jasper" I looked over to find flat present looking up at me, I opened it up to find a diamond photo frame with a picture of me and Jasper smiling at a party near the end of the summer, smiling and laughing. It had my best friend incrusted on the frame, it was beautiful.

"I'll have to ring them later and thank them, I love them all!" Emmett jumped up holding his arms up and yelled "GROUP HUG!" we all groaned

"C'mon a birthday group hug!" we muttered fine and all joined for a group hug,

"Are you coming to my birthday tonight Emmett?" he smiled

"What have you got planned?" I was packing my presents in a bag so it was easier to take to my room,

"Well we were planning on going to this club called BOX in Belfast, want to come with?" he beamed

"Yeah sis, it'll be fun!"

We spent the whole day going around Newcastle and places close to it, stopping in all the different places I usually was, then we got take out and got ready to go out later that night.

Emmett came down dressed in a nice shirt and jeans, and I came down in my little black dress _thanks to Alice_ and my 'killer heels' as she put it.

"You look beautiful sis" I smiled at his compliment; feeling beautiful in my new clothes;

"Thanks Em, now ignore my friends, they'll all probably flirt with you and stuff, make sure you tell them about Rosalie!" he nodded

"Obviously, I'm in love Bells, no doubt about that!" I laughed; he was so goofy at times.

The night to say the least was AMAZING, or how people put it over here, it was epic! The place was packed and we were drinking and dancing most of the time, my friends were all over Emmett, even when I told them he was with someone, they thought it was a 'challenge', how slutty are girls here? It's ridiculous, they made Tanya look innocent.

Emmett was getting pissed off too but he ignored it and didn't cause drama because it was my birthday and he wanted me to enjoy myself, we took so many pictures it was unbelievable, and a lot of guys showed interest in me, but I turned them all down, they were disrespectful and rude, expecting me to do things with them, no thank you! I'd rather wait for someone I care about.

The next morning I woke up refreshed and smiling, thinking about the night before and my birthday during the day, I walked over to my presents and picked up the tickets, and then frowned, if I went back I knew Edward would be there, and I wasn't ready to see him again, he broke my heart, he didn't say goodbye, he never called and he never even wished me a happy birthday, some friend.

I went downstairs with a frown on my face and made myself breakfast, mom and dad were already eating breakfast and noticed my face,

"What's wrong sweetheart? You came in so happy last night" I shrugged

"I did have a great night, but I was just thinking of something that made me upset, I'll be fine."

"Does it have something to do with a certain boy in Forks?" how in the hell did she know that? I looked away "no its not" she smirked

"I know it is, but when you want to talk about it I'm here" I nodded and gave a small smile.

The rest of the week was a fun time, we went out as a family and we hung around northern Ireland, going to all the different places and just had fun, we even went bowling and ice skating, I would miss it when they went back home.

I didn't even think about Edward after that morning, I hadn't thought about him for months and I wasn't going to start now, he was out of my life and I couldn't be happier.

We headed to the airport, I was in tears and so was my mum,

"I'm going to miss you Bella, please use those tickets soon! We really want you to come home for a while, even you Charlie" we all laughed

"I will mom, I'll miss you and Emmett so much!" we all hugged

"Don't worry sis, I'll make sure your visit to Forks is an eventful one" I felt worried but he just winked at me which made it worse, what was he planning?

"You're one evil person Emmett" he laughed and gave me a big hug

"You better be there for my birthday sis! Or else!" I smiled and nodded and then, it was time for them to get on the plane

"Bye bro!" he smiled

"Bye sis!" and that was it, I wouldn't see them for another month; it was going to kill me, I was so used to them being here for the whole week; what was I going to do to pass the time?

Hopefully when I go back I won't be stuck having any awkward moments, I missed my friends but I didn't want any drama to happen, but we all know I can't have a day in forks without it.

So that visit, will be VERY interesting indeed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

A whole month flew by, it was now the summer so I didn't have to worry about missing school or missing anything important, my friends and I grew apart after my birthday, I didn't like the way they flirted with my brother, they apologized but I know they didn't mean it; they would've done it again, but whatever. I didn't care anymore; I knew they weren't real friends.

I actually met a few new people in my course, so they were much nicer and more respectful of themselves, they were even more fun and we had so much more in common! I even changed slightly with my hair, I dyed it darker and stopped using fake tan, I looked more beautiful and I felt more like myself.

"You all packed and ready baby girl?" I got my last suitcase down the stairs and smiled nervously

"Yeah, ready" he looked at me for a moment and sighed

"You know it'll be alright baby girl, I'm sure Edward won't cause any drama, and if he does, tell him I need to test out my new gun collection" I rolled my eyes

"Okay dad, will do!"

We arrived at forks tired and hungry, we stopped at the diner and the place was empty, not a soul, but it was only 7 in the morning, so I guess there was a reason for that. Most people were working, sleeping or fishing.

After we finished our meal the place started to fill out with the older men who usually spent their day there. They all came up to us and said the same thing before they left to get their lunch

"Charlie, it's great to see you here again, your girls looking beautiful as ever" dad said thanks and that he was glad to be back and then that was it. These people definitely need to socialise more I think.

We drove to my mom's house and smiled, nothing had changed and it looked exactly how it used to look, perfect. My mom was already awake and waiting for us to arrive she noticed our car pulling in and ran out the door screaming with happiness.

"SWEETIE YOU CAME!" I laughed at the bear hug she gave me, I didn't realise how strong she was until I was starting to feel faint.

"Renee, maybe you should let her go, she's turning purple" my mom immediately let go and blushed,

"I'm just so happy your here honey, I've missed you!"

"I missed you too mom" I hugged her gently and took my stuff inside. I heard Emmett coming down the stairs very loudly,

"MOM! What's for breakfast" she was making us a cup of coffee when she yelled back

"Emmett its already lunchtime, you missed breakfast" he came in with a grumpy face

"But mom, it's my birthday, I'm allowed to lie in" he soon noticed we were sitting there and his face lit up

"You made it!" I ran over and hugged him,

"Of course, I wasn't going to miss your birthday bro!" he smiled with such happiness I was glad he knew that I cared,

"Well I forgot to tell you sis, I'm having a house party tonight with everyone here" I shrugged,

"So what's the problem Em?" he looked down to the floor looking guilty

"Well... I do mean everyone" I knew exactly what he meant by his reaction. Edward was going to be there; I tried to hide my feelings from my face and just sighed

"Emmett it's your birthday, you get to invite your friends, don't worry about it, it'll be fun?" I said the last part as a question and then laughed at his reaction.

"Really? You're not mad?" I feigned a hurt look on my face

"Why would I be mad?" he just shrugged

"Here is your present Em, I hope you like it" he grabbed the box and ripped it open

"FUCKING HELL YOU GOT ME THIS? HOW!" I laughed

"I have connections" I got him a limited edition Seattle Seahawks jersey signed by all his favourite players, something I knew he'd love;

"This is perfect bells, I love it" I hugged him and smiled with pride; at least I got something right;

We spent the next few hours sitting and talking about the past month or so without each other

"Bells, I'm so glad they're not your friends anymore, they were worse than Tanya" I laughed

"I KNOW that's what I was thinking"

We heard a knock on the door and mom jumped up and answered the door

"ROSIE" she hugged her and helped her bring her present in for Emmett, she ran over and basically tackled me to the ground

"BELLA - Don't you DARE leave for that long ever again! I missed you bitch!" I laughed

"I missed you so much too Rose! Well you can visit you know!" she scowled

"Well duh! I was letting you settle in and then I wouldn't get time off school for your birthday" I smiled

"Well if this weekend turns out well then I'll definitely be back"

"I don't care if this is the worst weekend of your life, you'll be coming back" I rolled my eyes, of course Rosalie would threaten me, some things never change

Suddenly I was grabbed from behind and spun in the air while screaming. Jasper laughed and I turned and slapped him on the arm

"Don't scare me like that Jazz!" he laughed loudly

"It was funny, I missed you." I smiled

"I missed you too! It's been too long" he nodded and hugged me

"Far too long, don't leave for that amount of time ever again"

We ended up in the park, sitting with everyone from school and catching up, it was a great day, they all changed so much, their hairs were different styles or colours, they either lost weight or gained a hell of a lot and one or two of the girls (not naming names) well okay Tanya, but apparently she was knocked up and due in a few months; like I said, slut

"So why are you like back?" Tanya said being the bitch she is, I sighed

"Obviously I'm back for my brother's birthday and my friends" she popped her gum she had in her mouth

"Well, I hope you know Eddies moved on" everyone stopped what they were doing, they knew Edward and I had fallen out before I left, and no one knew if we were friends again; even I didn't know;

"Well I'm glad; I hope he's happy because I know I am." She rolled her eyes

"Yeah whatever, I actually like preferred you to that bitch he's with now" my mouth fell open, literally, she preferred ME!

"What?" she checked out her nails

"Yeah, she's a total slut, and not in a good way, she cheats on him and everything" this was definitely new information but Tanya continued

"She's a total bitch and she is such a jealous girl too, I mean like I know she has Edward, but if she can cheat why can't he?" obviously she was hoping that he would cheat with her so I laughed

"Well if he's happy with her, just leave him be, it's his mistake to make"

They all looked at me like I had five heads; "What?" Emmett just shook his head

"I thought you would've wanted to get with him, I told Tanya to shut up before you got here" I shrugged lightly

"I'm kind of seeing someone at the minute and I'm happy" Rosalie's eyes bugged out of her head so far I literally thought I'd have to pop them back in.

"WHAT! What's his name? Tell me everything!" I laughed telling her all the little details; I should've known she want to hear about him;

"His names James, he's from Belfast and he's amazing, we've only been together for about 3 weeks but that makes it even better, means it's new and fun." In fact I wasn't even lying, I was seeing a new guy called James, he was great, tall, blonde hair, blue eyes , a body to die for and he had such a great personality he was funny, adorable and sweet, he was just what I needed right now.

"He sounds great Bells, I'm so glad you found someone" I knew she truly was happy for me, but I knew she was worried, she was always protective of me and Emmett didn't seem happy about it

"Why couldn't you have met him when I was there?" I shook my head and laughed, what an overprotective teddy bear;

"Can't really explain it Emmett, if were still together by Christmas ill bring him over for you to meet, how about that?" he flexed his muscles

"Yeah sounds good, it means I can put the fear into him for going near my little sister" Typical Emmett, he needed to keep calm and party on.

We all headed to our house and got the party started, after a while everyone noticed Edward still wasn't there, was he avoiding me or something? I understood if he did, but there was other ways to do that, he didn't need to skip his best mate's birthday, even Emmett look slightly hurt at Edward not being there, it really pissed me off, but I didn't let Emmett know that, I wanted him to enjoy it.

Finally Edward arrived, with a big blonde on his arm, popping gum and wearing the skimpiest thing I've EVER seen in my life. It looked awful, not even a glamour model could pull of that outfit! He came over to Emmett and hugged him

"Sorry I'm late Em, Heidi wanted to have some... quality time before we got here" he winked and Emmett just nodded, not looking happy at all,

"At least you're here now I guess"

I don't think Edward knew I was there because when he turned round his eyes went huge and his face turned shocked

"Bella?" I rolled my eyes "No Carmen Electra" he looked me up and down, obviously liking what he sees,

"You've changed since I last saw you" I agreed "its called getting on with life, I see you haven't changed a bit, except for one thing" he looked over to find Heidi complaining to Rosalie about how she can't get blonde hair like hers

All you could hear was Rosalie yelling "ITS FUCKING NATURAL" with Heidi laughing and speaking with a deep voice, you would think she was a man with a voice like that

"You're not fooling anyone babes, trust me" Rosie's face was getting redder by the minute and I couldn't help but laugh;

I quickly went over and introduced myself "Hi Heidi I'm Bella, Emmett's little sister" I extended my hand she took it briefly;

"Oh hi... You're prettier than I thought, the way Edward spoke of you, you sounded so, plain... and simple" it was probably obvious that I looked shocked so she continued

"No offence or anything! I mean he just said you were so sweet and smart, when someone says smart I always think, oh god plain Jane, but you're not so don't worry" was she really trying to get herself out of that one? I had to force myself not to roll my eyes at this bitch;

"Edward talked about me? To you?" she nodded, why would he talk about me to his new girlfriend? More to the point why was he saying NICE things about me, I thought he hated me when I left, I didn't get it. Rosalie butted in

"Well as nice as this is, I'm going to take Bells to see her big brother, maybe you should go see your boyfriend" so Heidi wandered off to Edward, grabbing his ass and then putting her arms around his shoulders, literally trying to fuck him in front of everyone, it was disgusting and I knew Edward wasn't happy with it, you could tell by his body language.

"He still loves you, you know that right?" I turned to look at Rosalie but she continued

"He was just upset about not being told, he thought you two had something more special, so when he heard from us, he wasn't pleased" I guess I understood, in a way it must've been like I hadn't trusted him with knowing the details, like I betrayed him, but I was upset, how could he not grasp that?

"I guess, but I wasn't myself when I found out, I didn't want to hurt him, but I ended up making things worse." I heard a cough behind me and noticed Emmett standing there

"Why don't we stop talking about the past and enjoy the present, which means I want my two favourite girls dancing with me!"

He dragged us onto the dance floor and we just continued to dance for the rest of the night. I kept noticing Edward staring at our direction, with a look of regret? Maybe even pain? I wasn't too sure; I did have a lot to drink that night.

The party was over and I said goodbye to everyone, knowing I wouldn't see them again until the next time I came home for a visit. I wandered up to my room and opened the balcony doors, sitting outside in the cool air was refreshing and relaxing. I closed my eyes and let the wind hit my face, let the sounds of the crickets outside to take over and it felt great.

"Thinking of something nice?" I turned around and saw Edward standing at the balcony doors, looking pretty hot I might add

"Why would you think that?" I tried to stay a bit cold; he did piss me off so I wasn't going to piss him off more than that

He walked over and sat beside me on the swing seat, "you looked happy, your eyes closed, just smiling, I was wondering what you were thinking about that got you so happy" I closed my eyes and brought my legs to my chest

"I was just thinking of nothing, letting my mind go blank" he laughed "only you could do that and smile"

"It's better than thinking of everything else in my head" he sighed

"I hear you're with someone now? Jack or something?" I rolled my eyes

"James, and I met Heidi, she seems nice, where did you two meet?" he looked away slightly

"We met at this party from college, and just connected, she made me happy" I was confused "made?" he shook his head "I meant makes; I'm just... confused at the minute, debating my problems."

"Are they bad problems or what?" he looked straight into my eyes looking more hurt than I could've imagined;

"You hurt me Bella, when you left, it was painful for me, I couldn't eat, sleep, I was so pissed off at you not telling me I just went into darkness. I should've said goodbye, should've said something to you at least, I'm sorry, I love you and it was hard to deal with"

I didn't know how to deal with this, he loved me? I knew he felt strongly for me but never love, I didn't believe he did,

"Edward, I didn't tell you because you were the only one I didn't want to ever say goodbye to, you wee my rock and I loved you so much, when you stopped speaking to me I was so upset, I refused to even think about you from that day on, until my birthday, not even a happy birthday text? I was shocked"

He shook his head, moving his body to face me "I tried to send a message, to call, but I was scared of what would happen, I didn't think you wanted to hear from me." I turned to face him as well

"I always wanted a text Edward, I wanted a call, to hear your voice or even to know you still cared, you never done anything, I was broken, but I found the bright light at the end of the tunnel, I was moving on"

He moved in closer to me "I don't want you to _move on_ with anything or anyone." His lips were so close to mine, I debated whether to stop what was about to happen until I immediately thought of James, I pulled back; not wanting to do anything I'd regret;

"I can't do this to James, I'm sorry" he quickly grabbed my face gently and kissed me slowly, whispering into my ears afterwards; "I've always loved you, and I always will."

After that, he got up and left, never saying another word. Great... just what I needed, more pressure!


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

It was the morning after Emmett's birthday party, I woke up feeling guilty as hell, knowing I didn't do anything wrong, but it still made me feel different, like I knew I still loved Edward, it sucked! I didn't want to feel anything for him again, I knew I wouldn't see him for another year or so and it was killing me. I had James and that's all that mattered.

I packed the rest of my stuff and brought it downstairs, mom and dad were sitting in the dining area reading the paper and having their usual breakfasts, while Emmett was dying in the living room from a hangover.

"Dad? What time are we leaving at?" he put down his paper and checked his watch

"Well the flight isn't for another 3 hours, so we won't be leaving for an hour or so sweetheart, why the rush?" I shrugged gently

"Was just checking, don't want to miss the flight" my mom laughed

"Obviously you're missing James aren't you?" I didn't want her to know the truth so I decided to lie

"You got me, I miss James, and I really want to see him." Dad smiled

"Yeah, he's a good guy bells, I hope you two work out" okay? Thats a different attitude than before; was he that dead set on me having nothing to do with Edward?

"Thanks dad, I'll try."

The hours went by and we said our final goodbyes to Emmett and mom,

"Tell everyone that I'll keep in touch more this time" he smiled

"Will do sis, and I hope you'll come visit a whole lot sooner than this next time" I hugged him tightly

"I'll be back here before you even know it."

We hit the plane and then we were off home back to Belfast.

**3 Years Later**

The time has flown by since I moved to Ireland, I officially loved this place, I couldn't dream of living anywhere else. I had my friends, I kept in touch with Emmett and the others (minus Edward) I knew we had a connection again and I wanted to nip that in the bud as quickly as possible, I texted him a few times, but only as a friend, I think he noticed which meant he texted even less, so I just thought whatever, he was the one with the problem, I was still with James and I knew it felt right, he was different.

I passed my A-levels (that's what they call it over here) and went to Queens University, one of the top universities in the UK, I now have a degree in music and business, with a few courses in English literature and art that I done for night courses;

Tonight was my 3 year anniversary with James and I was excited, I was having a great time with him and I was wondering if this was the night he would propose, he was making a big dinner for us at his place and I was excited. I was thinking of all the different scenarios on how it may play out and how I would say yes. I felt like I was on cloud 9.

I knew my family wouldn't be happy with it, after a while my dad started seeing changes in James which I didn't and thought he wasn't good for me, the same with my mom and Emmett, he met James 2 years ago and refused to like him from day one! Saying things like 'he's a user Bells' and 'you're too good for him sis' I knew he cared but I loved James and I wasn't going to give up anything I didn't want to.

I spent the whole day at the hair dressers, getting my hair done, my nails done and getting even happier at the thought of becoming 'Mrs Bella Hunter', I never in a million years thought about something like this and it made me realise how much I loved him.

It was around 7 now and I got changed into my new skirt and top with gorgeous heels to match, I finished texting the girls and Alice and Rosalie who both wish me luck, and I was ready.

I drove to his and noticed a car in the driveway that I didn't recognise; did he get a new car? Who cares, I guess I'll ask him after we celebrate. I open the door to find the place dark, where was he? I looked downstairs and couldn't find him anywhere, there was nothing set on the table for our dinner, not even the smell of any kind of food cooking whatsoever.

"James? Are you here!" I yelled his name, wondering if something happened to him until I heard a thud upstairs and a muttered

"Shit!" what the hell was happening? I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and opened the bedroom door to find James half naked... shoving a red headed girl under his bed.

I whispered the only thing I could at that point

"James?" they both turned and he looked like a deer in headlights. Tears were falling down my face, how could he do this to me? I loved him.

"Babe, I can explain" he ran over to me, grabbing my arms and trying to make me look at him, I refused and just stared at the floor

"Babe, she's a nobody, she doesn't mean anything I swear." She butted in getting out from under the bed and putting her hands on her hips, obviously not caring that she was naked.

"Excuse me! A nobody? You said you LOVED me James and you're fucking someone behind my back! THE WEDDINGS OFF"

Wow that just shattered my heart I glare at him "YOUR WEDDING! I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND JAMES, how could you do this to me" he shook him head

"She's not my fiancée, I dumped her years ago when I met you, she forced me to sleep with her" the red headed woman laughed

"What are you on James? Is that how long he's been fucking you love? He's been cheating on me for years; you're in a long line of whores."

This couldn't be true! It just couldn't! I rip my arms from his grasp "drop dead James" and with that I stormed off, running for my car. He ran after me, telling me he loved me and wanted to be with me, not her. But I didn't listen; I just drove off and went home; devastated;

"Baby girl? Are you alright?" I opened my eyes to find my dad standing at the door, waiting for me to answer.

"No" was all I could croak out, my mouth was so dry from crying and I didn't have the energy to get up, let alone speak. He walked over and held me in his arms

"He broke me dad, he was already engaged to someone else" my dad's hug got tighter

"I'm so sorry sweetheart, he doesn't deserve you"

"I can't stay here dad, I can't face him coming here trying to speak to me, I need to go to forks and get my head back to normal." He understood; he got up and rang my mom explaining what happened and when I could go up to forks.

I checked my phone and noticed 23 missed calls and 12 texts, most of the texts were from my friends saying 'is a congrats in order babes? X' and the rest were from that asshole 'babe, I can explain, please answer your phone, we can sort this out!'

I threw my phone down and grabbed my suitcases from under the bed, throwing everything I could into them.

"Baby girl, your moms heartbroken, she said that you can come whenever you're ready, but the next flight isn't until tomorrow." I sighed and continued putting things in my suitcase.

"I'm still going to pack, I just need this all sorted" I grabbed the frames with the pictures of James and I and I threw them in the bin. At this point I wasn't heartbroken, I was livid. How could he cheat on his fiancé AND ME!

You'd think I would've caught on, all the texting, the calls he kept getting from 'work', but there wasn't a single photo in his house, not of her or of me, not even his family. I guess that was the one place he could trick any woman. I never loved him; he was just something I wanted to get free from the one person I did love, Edward.

If I didn't love James, why did I still feel the need to cry about never seeing him again, can you love more than one person?

The day dragged in, I kept getting calls from James, but I turned my phone off, not caring if I missed calls from anyone else. I sat in the house and watched cartoons, doing something that was simple!

I heard a knocking on the door and my dad answered "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON MY PROPERTY! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!" then I heard someone else's voice

"please sir, I need to see Bella, I need to explain myself" James? I race to the door to find him standing there, looking like shit; he hadn't shaved, washed (by the smell of him).

"BELLA! Please listen to me, I ended it with Victoria, I love you!" that's her name then, I thought her name would be more interesting than that

"Just leave James, I have nothing to say to you, you broke my heart, I never want to see you again" BANG! James falls to the floor, grabbing his nose and screaming in pain, I look to my side and find my dad standing there, still holding a clenched fist.

"Leave now, or I will call the police" and with that he left, muttering

"I will never give up Bella, your mine, I will never let you go"those words felt chilling, and at that point, I knew he was being _dead_ serious.

The next day I was ready for leaving, my bags were packed and I was ready to just leave Ireland completely, it was my home for the past four years, but that was it, I was going to miss my dad and my home, but the rest of it would only be a memory I might skim through to remember a few things, I was finally going home to my mom and Emmett.

"BELLS!" Emmett ran and grabbed me, smiling so much it was creepy

"I missed ya sis, can't believe that douche done that to you, do you want me to go over there and sort him out?" I shook my head

"No Emmett, he's out of my life, I just want to move on and forget about him now, he's not worth the thought, but thank you" he understood, I didn't want any trouble and I honestly just wanted to forget being with him, he obviously didn't love me and I wasn't going to say anything more about it, I'll eventually get over him and find someone else.

We arrived home and mom was at work, Emmett should've been too but he wanted to come get me from the airport.

"Mom won't be back until Tuesday but I'll be home from work after 5, so just hang out and do your own thing until then" I rolled my eyes,

"Em don't worry as soon as you head for work tomorrow I'm job hunting."

"Don't rush it bells, and mom was saying she might have a job at her label for you, something about helping producers look for new talent and help them with stuff or whatever" my eyes lit up

"You mean an agent or manager?" he pointed to me and smiled

"That's the one, I guess you'll find out later when you ring mom."

Finally, a job I knew I'd be able to do, but only if Emmett was listening properly, god knows that boys mind wanders.

"So Em what do you do anyway?" he sat down drinking his coffee and shrugged

"I'm just a Criminal lawyers student sis, I'm the one who will be handling cases involving crime, including major felony cases, homicide as well as traffic violations, you know, the usual stuff"

I was shocked! Who knew my big brother would become a lawyer; I thought he wanted to be a football player. How long had I been away?

"What about everyone else?" I never really heard about their jobs when we talked, but I was hoping to find out more now that I was back home.

"Well, Jaspers finished college with degrees in teaching history and literature so he's starting work and stuff with this high school down in Seattle, Rosie has her degree in mechanical engineering so she's working in this high end garage for _real_ cars, and I hear Alice was doing fashion or some shit, god knows."

I sighed, everyone was doing great, and they got everything they ever wanted. "What about Edward?" his eyes lit up, probably shocked that I asked, he knew Edward and I only talked a bit since his birthday that year.

"He's still in university, on his last year for becoming a doctor, they said he's more capable than anyone in his class so they've helped him out more, it's more like favouritism I think, but he has a student job at the hospital with his dad."

I nodded "so he's doing great too I guess, that's really good" Emmett sat at the edge of his seat, with his hands on his knees and leaning towards me.

"Edward told me what he said to you that night Bells, he meant it you know? He does love you, I've never seen anyone with that much passion before, he still feels it, when you're ready, I think you should give him a chance" and with that he got up and cleared away the dishes.

He came back in and grabbed his bag, "I've got classes to get to in an hour or so, so headin' up early to study, you can come with if you want? I bet everyone's dying to see you." I smiled

"Maybe next time bro, I need time to resettle." He nodded, kissed the top of my head and left me to unpack my things.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

It had been weeks since I came home, Emmett did hear mom right and I now had a job, I was shadowing a music agent within the label and was helping him scout for musical talent's, I already helped decide on four peoples futures! I was excited and knew it would be such a great career to have.

Dad was doing well and he said James only came around for the first week until he started to believe I left Ireland. Overall I think he gave up trying, he stopped calling and texting and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing? I was managing better while I was keeping busy, but when I was alone I was wondering whether James was planning something, maybe I'm just insane.

It was finally the weekend and I was meeting the guys for some drinks, I hadn't seen Edward yet but I was hanging out with everyone else since I came back. When I arrived the place was packed, full of people wanting to relax and have fun from work and college. I noticed the guys laughing and calling me over so I order my drink and head for the table.

"Hey guys, what's up?" they were all laughing

"Nothing much, Emmett's just being Emmett as per usual." I laughed with them and looked round the place, just to see how crowded it was from here.

"Bells, Edwards coming tonight, he said he couldn't wait to catch up with you." Yeah I'm sure he couldn't, now I felt nervous, what would he say about my relationship going down the drain? I just gave a half smile and downed my first drink.

After my third or fourth I was feeling better, more confident, but lightheaded at the same time, I wish I picked drinks that had less of an effect on me.

"Bella?" I heard my name being yelled over the loud music and saw Edward smiling behind me, I smile back and wink

"Hey Edward, you look great" he laughed

"You look pretty beautiful yourself." He was always so sweet, even when we were out to clubs or pubs.

"I'm sorry about James; I'd love to kill him for hurting you." I just hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, mouthing thank you.

The rest of the night we talked about our lives, our jobs and relationships, in the end Edward dumped Heidi after he found her fucking his roommate in _his_ bed, I guess we attracted those kind of people.

We ended up standing in the smoking area just wanting to hear silence so we could talk

"Heidi didn't deserve you Edward, you were far too sweet for her" he gave me his lopsided smile and I swooned, he was gorgeous, how could I have ever thought I loved anyone else?

"Thanks Bells, you always know the right thing to say." I shrugged and we both laughed.

"Want to go back to mine Edward, it would be quieter, my mom's gone for a week with work and Emmett's with Rosalie tonight." He agreed and we went inside to find the others.

"EMMETT! Edward and I are leaving now, I'll call you in the morning!" he winked

"Don't have too much fun sis, remember I can hurt him" I laughed and said goodbye to everyone else as well and headed home.

When we got in we got some coffee and cuddled up by the fire and watched a few movies, just like we used to, it was definitely different this time, but that was because of how much older we were, and supposedly wiser.

"I'm glad your back Bella, I've missed you these past few years." I snuggled up closer

"So am I, it's not been the same without you, why couldn't I have seen right through James and just came back to you... Life would've been much easier."

He kissed the top of my head and I sighed deeply, enjoying these moments with him, I don't know what time we had fallen asleep at but I woke up around 6 that morning being held by Edward, I got up and decided to make us breakfast and coffee.

"How long have you been up for then?" I turn around to see Edward staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Only half an hour or so, been making breakfast, enjoy" he laughed lightly and sat down to tuck in to the food.

"Edward, I was thinking about something for a while now and was wondering what you thought about it." He swallowed his food

"About what? Are you alright?" I nodded

"I just wanted to know how you felt for me? Relationship wise I mean." He smiled and finished his breakfast, bringing the dish over and putting it into the sink. He put his arms around my waist and brought me closer, kissing my forehead and looking straight into my eyes.

"I meant what I said 3 years ago, I've always loved you and always will." I smiled and kissed him gently

"I love you too Edward, I'm sorry it took me a while to realise it." We kissed again and held each other tightly.

Finally I was with Edward, the one I ended up falling in love with by accident, he was my soul mate and I knew he would keep me safe from anything; he was my best friend and my boyfriend, a perfect match.

1 Year Later:

Springtime arrived and it was finally here, the day I would never forget; the day I become Mrs Bella Cullen.

My whole year changed when Edward and I became a couple, Alice and jasper decided to become a couple so we all went out together on triple dates, it was the best time I've ever had. I forgot about James and everything he done to me, I didn't feel like I loved him at all, I was just trying to find something to make me think of anyone other than Edward.

My mom and dad were thrilled at our relationship, my dad moved to Seattle to be closer to us, he loved Ireland but apparently James was being more of a nuisance than I thought. Edward and I were perfect for each other, it was getting to the point of us finishing each other's sentences, kissing every chance we could and just wanting to be together 24/7.

Rosalie came in with Alice, they looked beautiful in the pastel yellow baby doll bridesmaid dresses, their hairs were down and curled (Alice had extensions in) with flowers in their hair.

"You both look beautiful!" they smiled and twirled around for full effect.

"You have good taste bells, but you have even better taste in wedding dresses, you look breath-taking" I smiled and checked myself out in the mirror to see how I looked, my hair was done in a waterfall braid, with small flowers cascading down my hair.

The dress was simply beautiful, it was strapless with a torso that hugs my body until the hips were where the dress poofs out slightly, all the way down with a 1 foot round even train, the back has a low V-backed style with a large lace tie bow (very 1920s-esk), it was my dream dress.

My dad came in and was nearly in tears, happy tears of course. "Baby girl, I can't believe I'm giving you away, I never thought I'd cry on your wedding day, I'm so proud sweetheart" I smiled and hugged him tightly

"Stop or you'll make me cry, and you don't want my makeup ruined do you" he laughed and shook his head,

"You ready baby?" I simply nod and we all make our way down.

The music started playing and my heart skipped a beat, the place was magically, the church covered in flowers, vines and twinkle lights, the aisle towards the altar was covered in petals from all the flowers that grew in the meadow and everyone I loved was there, I walk up the aisle looking Edward in the eyes, smiling and seeing the look of love and happiness in his eyes.

My father handed me to Edward and we walked over to the minister, who started to speak. "We are gathered here today, on this happy and joyous occasion, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony" we looked at each other and I knew I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here, Edward mouths to me 'you look beautiful' which makes me blush even more.

The minister spoke as we just stared at each other and waited for the most important parts of the ceremony, "Edward Antony Cullen, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to her as long as you both shall live?" he looked towards me and said "I do" as he put my ring on my finger.

The minister looked over to me and continued "Isabella Marie McCarthy, do you take this man to be your wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health, remaining faithful to him as long as you both shall live?" I look at Edward and say "I do" while putting the ring on his finger.

He smiles "I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride" Edward lifts me up and kisses me while spinning us round, everyone jumps up laughing and applauded.

The Life of Bella McCarthy was finally complete and I could now live the life of Bella McCarthy…. Cullen.

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><p><strong>Okay guys, hope you enjoyed the story :).. Hoping to make a new story that starts off from the ending so stay tuned, ya never know when i'll start writing the next one :P<strong>

**Please Review, it really helps me, it makes me know what i've done wrong and how i can fix it!**

**Rachel (: x**


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